


Well there's another dance, all you gotta do is say yes

by JuliaBaggins



Category: Eurovision Song Contest RPF, Festival di Sanremo RPF
Genre: Becoming a family, Day At The Beach, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Build, Tired Ermal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-06-11 14:49:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15317847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaBaggins/pseuds/JuliaBaggins
Summary: Ermal writes a new song and realizes that he wants no one but Fabrizio to be the first one to listen to it. Then, he visits his friend for a few days, and feelings get revealed...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve never published RPF before so this has me being kinda nervous, but I couldn’t resist – this fandom is so wonderful and I made such amazing friends here; hope you will enjoy my little story! ❤

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to dear Rūta for encouraging me while writing; this one's for you! :*

Ermal was sitting on his hotel room’s windowsill, somehow trying to fit himself as well as his guitar there – the windowsill was broader than they usually used to be, but this still wasn’t the most comfortable of positions. Not that he would mind, not when he had the chance to enjoy such a wonderful view across the sea; gentle waves glistening under a bright summer sun. The light blue sky was decorated by only a few little fluffy clouds, and Ermal could hear seagulls from out there. He felt calm here, content, his fingers moving across the strings of his guitar as if on their own account. 

A few words about this beautiful summer day, the atmosphere here, some more notes to his little melody – this might actually become a song, he liked where it was going. And he was sure that Fabrizio- _oh_. Ermal stopped playing and took a deep breath. His mind had gone into dangerous territories there, suggesting that _of course_ Fabrizio would be the first one to hear what might be his new song, as if there was not even a question there. 

But why should there be, Ermal tried to tell himself, Fabrizio was his friend after all, and he was a brilliant musician, so it would only be logical to play his new song to him first. Fabrizio had said he would do the same, hadn’t he? Told Ermal how he would be the first one that would hear his new songs, because they were friends, in life as well as in music. Only that he couldn’t have known how Ermal’s heart had sped up in that moment, how it still did thinking about it. How honored he had been, how moved, and how very well he knew how screwed he was. Because if he was honest to himself, which wasn’t an easy thing to be, he knew that he did not want Fabrizio to listen to this song as his friend, or Fabrizio Moro as the great musician he was. No, he wanted it to be no one but _his Bizio_ , because of the way his eyes would light up when they sang together, because of how safe and how very much _at home_ he felt every time they hugged, because he.. Because he had _feelings_ , feelings that he refused to put a name on - this would be too dangerous, but it still was true. 

Ermal let his eyes wander across the sea and tried not to think about Fabrizio. At least not like this, because nothing would ever come out of it, he knew it. Playing a song about a hot summer day spent at the sea with the one you love wouldn’t do any good here. But he also didn’t feel like changing the lyrics of the song, it would feel like a betrayal somehow, so maybe he should just keep it to himself. A song to never be played for anyone else about his feelings he would never talk about. How very fitting, he thought a little bitter.

 

A little pling announced that Ermal’s phone had received a new text message, and he was glad for the distraction; for a reason to get away from this window and his thoughts that refused to stop circling around a certain someone. A certain someone with tattoos he wanted to put his hands on, fluffy hair he wished he could bury his fingers in and the kindest and most beautiful eyes Ermal had ever seen. He wondered if someone from his management might have texted him, or maybe his brother, but no – fate seemed to be smirking in his face today. 

None other than Fabrizio himself had texted him, wishing him good luck for his concert in the evening. Ermal sighed, and when he read further, he couldn’t help the smile from spreading around his lips. Because Fabrizio mentioned that he had a few free days next week, and he knew that Ermal did so too, so maybe he would like to come visit him, work a little at some music together? Ermal wondered if Fabrizio might have looked up his concert schedule to know that he was free too (what a lovely thought) and after staring at the emoji that the text message was ended with, a smiley face that seemed to be blushing, he answered that he would love to visit Fabrizio. 

When he caught his own reflection in the mirror, Ermal couldn’t help but notice how happy he looked, how very.. enchanted, and gosh, he really was into this too deep. Ermal ran his hands through his curls while he sighed again, and he already knew that some songs would be very difficult to sing in the evening. Not that this would be anyhing new…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Having a fucked up sleeping schedule atm? Yeah, and it seems to be inspiring for writing xD

To say that Ermal was tired would have been an understatement. There had been an interview in the previous evening and a meeting with some management people really early this morning, so not much time for sleeping, and now, sitting comfortable in a plane seat, he also couldn’t sleep, thanks to all the coffee he had in the morning. He sighed while looking out of the window, at the landscape down there. The closer the plane got to Rome, the more cars were to be seen down there; crawling towards the city like colonies of colourful ants, glistening in the bright sun. 

In the airport, Ermal had to wait a moment for his suitcase and therewhile sent a quick text to Fabrizio, telling him that he was nearly ready. Not even a minute later, Fabri answered with a thumbs up emoji and a description of how to find his car. Ermal started his way there as soon as he was united with his suitcase again, stopping once or twice to take a selfie with some fans. One girl waved him goodbye while saying “Hope you have a great time in Rome!”, and Ermal had to smile at that, because he was sure that she was right. He would have a great time here; how could he not when he was going to spend the time with Fabrizio?

A bright summer sun welcomed Ermal as soon as he stepped outside of the airport and he quickly fished his sunglasses out of his bag; turning his steps to the left like Fabrizio had instructed. He could see the huge parking lot and just started to wonder how he should find the right car there when he suddenly heard his name.

 

Fabrizio had been at the airport a little too early, or maybe it was a lot, so after parking the car, he found himself a nice spot to sit in the sun and wait. Wait for Ermal, the thought made him smile. A few minutes after his friend had texted him that he just needed to wait for his suitcase, Fabrizio could see a very familiar figure walking in his direction; dark curls being ruffled by the soft breeze. For a second, he wondered if he should sneak up to him, for a surprise hug or something the like, but no, he didn’t want to spook Ermal, so he decided on calling him instead.

“Ermal!”, Fabrizio shouted, and Ermal moved his head in his direction; a smile grazing his lips.

The younger man hurried his steps, nearly running towards Fabrizio, and then, they were in each other’s arms. Oh, they hadn’t seen each other in way too long, Fabrizio thought while Ermal’s curls tickled his cheeks. (Not that it wouldn’t _always_ seem like too long, not when it somehow felt like Ermal belonged right here, in his arms.) 

Fabrizio couldn’t have said how long they stood there, just holding each other, but at some point, a yawn escaped Ermal’s lips, and Fabrizio took that as a sign that they probably should leave towards his house, as his friend had a long day already behind him. He guided Ermal towards the car before opening his door, which earned him one of Ermal’s precious smiles, and then, Fabrizio drove them towards his home. They were surrounded by a comfortable silence, and after some time, he wondered if Ermal might have fallen asleep – his whole body seemed relaxed, his breathing steady, and behind his sunglasses, his eyes might as well have been closed. Fabrizio just smiled and didn’t speak until they reached his house.

 

“-mal? Ermal?”

He blinked his eyes open to find Fabrizio looking at him, and when Ermal noticed that they weren’t driving anymore, he guessed that they must have reached his friend’s house. Yes, a look out of the car’s window confirmed this, and he smiled – from his first visit on, he had liked it here, and Ermal was very happy to be there again, happy about Fabrizio’s invitation. Happy, and tired, but he wanted to make sure to not let this ruin their day.

 

Fabrizio made them some tea and while they drank it together in the kitchen, they talked about what happened in the few weeks since they had last seen each other, about their concerts, Fabrizio’s kids, just everything. He was telling about a movie he had seen with Anita when Ermal yawned again, and Fabrizio could see the tiredness in his eyes.

He asked Ermal if he would maybe like to take a nap, trying not to sound too concerned, but Ermal just smiled and shook his head.

“It’s fine Fabri, I just need a little coffee and then we can talk about some music?”

“Okay”, Fabrizio answered with a smile, though he happened to forget about the coffee when they later sat down together at the living room table; a guitar in his lap and the afternoon sun in Ermal’s hair. This felt nice, comfortable, just the two of them – something he could get used to more often.

The doorbell rang, calling Fabrizio away from this lovely moment, and when he got back into the living room a few minutes later, a package under his arm that the post had delivered, he saw that Ermal had fallen asleep once again. Softly, Fabrizio touched his shoulder, and then suggested some nice sleep in a soft bed, to which Ermal couldn’t really say no.

 

Ermal stood up from the sofa, swaying slightly on his feet, and then there suddenly was a strong arm around his waist, keeping him steady. He was too tired to think much about how he was resting his head on Fabrizio’s shoulder, it just felt like the natural thing to do, and shortly after, he gently was lowered onto a soft mattress, tucked into a blanket. 

Ermal thought he heard a whisper of “Sleep well, darling” really close to his curls right before falling asleep, but he might as well have dreamt that…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you for all the lovely feedback I got for the first chapter!! ❤


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally I'm finished with my exams, and that means more time for writing, yay! :D
> 
> Warning: there's a small injury mentioned in this chapter, just in case that might bother you.

Ermal woke up slowly after a night filled with peaceful rest and dreams about the beach. He didn’t open his eyes yet; wondered if he should try to go back to sleep for a little while, it was so comfortable here- _wait_. There was something _off_ , about the pillow, the soft blanket, about everything, but it took him a moment to figure out _what_ exactly it was. The smell. Something like safety, like home, like… Ermal’s eyes flew open and he jolted upright. 

Okay, so this definitely wasn’t his bedroom. But Ermal had an idea about whose it was, and when he looked around, he found his idea confirmed. Because he knew the shirt thrown over that chair, the guitar leaning underneath the window, and he also knew who the kids on the picture at the shelf next to him were. Alright. So he was in Fabrizio’s bedroom. Ermal took a deep breath and wondered how he might have gotten here, but he just didn’t know. He remembered flying to Rome, Fabrizio picking him up from the airport, their hug, how they had talked at Bizio’s house, started to write some music. And god, he had been _so_ tired. Hm, so that would explain why he couldn’t remember falling asleep, but he still wasn’t sure how he had ended up in Fabrizio’s bedroom. Especially since he knew that there was a nice guestroom just down the floor.

When Ermal stood up he noticed that he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, minus his shoes. As those were nowhere in sight, Ermal padded out of the room in his socks, looking around.

 

“Bizio?”, Ermal called, but received no answer.

He continued his way towards the kitchen, and there he could finally see his friend. Fabrizio was standing in front of the coffee machine, his back towards Ermal, and he was softly humming along to a song on the radio. 

“Fabrizio?”, Ermal said again, and this time, he was heard.

Fabrizio turned around, a smile on his face, and he walked towards Ermal, taking him into a hug.

“Good morning, sleepyhead”, Fabrizio murmured, and Ermal could hear in his voice how he was still smiling.

“Fabrizio, about that, why did I sleep in your bed?”, Ermal asked, and Fabrizio let him go to take a step back. (Ermal tried not to be disappointed about this.)

“Oh, Ermal, I’m sorry about that – you were so tired yesterday you nearly fell asleep on my shoulder, and I remembered too late that I hadn’t prepared the guestroom yet, Anita and me had built a blanket fortress there, and it just was a spontaneous idea to let you sleep in my bed. I hope you don’t mind too much?”

Fabrizio truly seemed worried about this, and Ermal was at a loss for words. He knew that he should say something, but he wasn’t sure about _what;_ what he could voice without accidentally telling too much. So in the end, Ermal settled for a simple “It’s fine, no problem, really. And thank you.”

Ermal was glad to see that Fabrizio’s smile was back, this smile that might be one of his very favourite things in the world.

 

After a cup of coffee out in the garden, the two of them alone with their thoughts, a blue sky and a soft breeze, Ermal and Fabrizio agreed to spend the day at home, just relaxing and continuing their work at what might become a new song. 

“Hey by the way, what would you like to get for lunch?”, Fabrizio asked at some point.

“I don’t know, do you think we can cook something?”

“Ermal, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“No?”, Ermal said and started giggling, Fabrizio joining right in.

“Okay, we’re two grown up men, I’m sure we can cook something decent. How about pasta? I think I still got some fresh tomatoes.”

Ermal nodded, and so they started preparing their lunch.

 

Fabrizio smiled while he poured the pasta into the boiling water, and Ermal suddenly realized that this cooking thing might have been a bad idea. Because it felt so _domestic_ , the way they stood next to each other in the kitchen, sharing a comfortable silence and a smile then and now. It felt _so good_ and at the same time like not enough, and Ermal tried not to think about how much he would give if he could keep this. And oh god, the way the sunlight got caught in Fabrizio’s hair…

“Shit!”, Ermal shouted when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in one of his fingers.

He had gotten distracted by staring at Fabrizio while cutting the tomatoes, and unfortunately, the porcelain knife had cut into his finger. 

“Ermal?”, Fabrizio asked, his voice sounding confused, and when Ermal turned towards him, his friend’s eyes found the bleeding finger. 

Panic flickered in Fabrizio’s eyes while he rushed forward, oh so softly taking Ermal’s hurt hand in the two of his. He stared at the blood and Ermal felt the deep need to comfort him; the pain in his finger momentarily forgotten.

“Hey, it isn’t that bad, just give me a band-aid and I will be fine”, Ermal said, adding a little smile.

Fabrizio didn’t seem entirely convinced and insisted on Ermal sitting down at one of the kitchen chairs while he went to the bathroom. As soon as he was back, he inspected the finger, the bleeding having nearly stopped by now, and put some antiseptic lotion on it. Ermal couldn’t quite suppress a flinch at that, and the guilty look in Fabrizio’s eyes made his heart clench.

Next, Fabrizio put a band-aid on, and when Ermal looked at it, a bright smile broke out on his face.

“That’s cute”, Ermal said while looking at the little colourful dinosaurs decorating the band-aid.

“Anita picked them out; she’s very proud to be able to say stegosaurus lately”, Fabrizio answered, and for the first time since Ermal had cut himself instead of the tomatoes, a little smile grazed his lips.

“Thank you”, Ermal whispered, and didn’t get an answer. Fabrizio just looked into his eyes, such a soft look, and then, he did something that Ermal hadn’t seen coming.

Fabrizio guided Ermal’s hand that he was still holding towards his lips and placed a gentle kiss on top of the dinosaur-band-aid…


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! :)
> 
> I wanna start this chapter with a big thank you and even more hugs. To all of you lovely people in the Metamoro fandom, thank you for just being the cuties that you are. Thanks for all the lovely comments I get here, thanks for the incredibly amazing stories that you write, and thanks for being there for me on Tumblr earlier when I told about how one of my fish died and that I could need some support. Thanks for just being you and making this fandom such a wonderful experience.
> 
> I hope something good happens to all of you today; hab euch lieb! ❤️

In the next morning, Ermal woke up in Fabrizio’s guest room, and he tried his very best to not miss the familiar smell of his friend, his chaos around him. Tried not to miss _Fabrizio_. He knew that his friend was only down the floor, in his own bed (and oh, it was dangerous to be aware of how very comfortable one could sleep there) and probably still sleeping as it was quite early, but still – Ermal would have preferred it if he was here, with him. 

Yesterday, when Fabrizio had been oh so worried about the cut in his finger and then actually kissed that band-aid, Ermal thought his heart might have skipped a beat or three, and how Fabrizio had blushed afterwards, that nearly had been enough for Ermal to start hoping, dreaming once again. But then, the moment had been over, they had eaten and spend the remaining day in the most friendly way. No longing gazes, no silences that could mean so much, just two good friends enjoying their time together. Though in the evening, Ermal couldn’t resist – when they wished each other a good night, he had hugged Fabrizio longer than it was usual even for them, holding him a little tighter, and Fabri had just gone with it. And Ermal had fallen asleep as confused as he woke up today.

 

During breakfast, they talked about politics, and when Fabrizio later asked Ermal how his finger was doing, he couldn’t help the warm feeling spreading in his chest once again.

“It’s fine, good as new. I really had the best nurse yesterday”, Ermal said, and Fabrizio laughed at that. This sounded like music.

They later took a walk through the neighborhood and then settled in the garden once again; the weather truly was too beautiful to be inside. Fabrizio handed Ermal one of his guitars and for some time, they just sang songs to each other that they both liked; sometimes a little off key but always with a lot of joy. And for a second, Ermal thought about starting to play one of Fabrizio’s songs, as they certainly belonged to his favourites, but then, he decided against it. And was happy when Fabrizio asked him if he already had ideas for his upcoming album.

„I actually wrote a little melody the other day, if you would like to hear it?”, Ermal suggested, and then tried his best to ignore what the excitement in Fabrizio’s eyes did to his heart.

“Oh yes, of course, I would be honored if you played it for me”, Fabrizio answered, and then, he actually leaned forward a little in his seat; his eyes fixed on Ermal in concentration.

Ermal picked the guitar up again and started to play, his fingers dancing over the strings to form the melody he had come up with while sitting in that hotel room window with the pretty view. He didn’t sing to it, though the words were running through his head – they just _belonged_ to the music, and halfway throughout the song, he started softly humming along with the melody. Only after he had played the last note did Ermal look up again.

Fabrizio’s gaze was still fixed on Ermal, but right now, the younger one couldn’t make out what the look in his friend’s eyes meant. And that was something unusual.

“So, what do you think?”, Ermal asked after a moment, and Fabrizio’s smile was back.

“I really liked it”, Fabrizio said, but Ermal felt like there was more to it, more that he would like to say. And just when he debated with himself if he should ask Fabrizio about this, the older man’s phone rang.

 

Fabrizio went inside to answer his phone call and came back with his arms filled with something fluffy. Ermal looked at his friend in surprise when he handed this to him, and then smiled once he realized it was a colourful sweater.

“I noticed the wind picked up earlier, so just, here, I don’t want you to get cold”, Fabrizio explained, stumbling a little over his words. It was incredibly endearing and Ermal hid his smile inside the sweater for a moment when he put it on. 

“Thanks a lot. Who was it that called you?”

“Oh, yes, I wanted to talk to you about that anyway. That was Giada, and actually she has the kids this week, but now an important meeting came up tomorrow for her so she asked me if Libero and Anita could come here, and I hope that you-“

“Should I go?”, Ermal asked, and was met with a wide-eyed stare from Fabrizio.

“What, no, I actually meant to say that I hope that you don’t mind us all doing something together. I really don’t want you to leave, unless you want to of course?”

“I’d love to spend the day with you and your kids”, Ermal said, and Fabrizio’s whole face lit up.

 

In the evening, they were once again met with the question about what they should eat, and Fabrizio suggested ordering some sushi.

“I don’t eat that often because the kids don’t like it but I actually do; what do you think?”

Ermal agreed, so about half an hour later, they sat on the terrace with their sushi bag. And once they had opened it, it became obvious that there was a little problem – there only was one pair of chopsticks packed. 

“Should we take turns in eating with them?”, Ermal asked, picking the chopsticks up with a smile.

“Nah, it’s fine, you take them, I can use my hands”, was Fabrizio’s answer, so Ermal shrugged and they started eating.

Until suddenly, Fabrizio found a piece of salmon sushi in front of his face, held out by Ermal with a grin that was bordering on cheeky. After a second of hesitation, Fabrizio opened his lips, thereby allowing Ermal to feed the sushi to him, and he couldn’t fight the thought that they should think about getting Japanese food more often…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're interested in hearing some other little stories that I write, just come say Hi at Tumblr, consulting-angel-in-bag-end :)
> 
> Oh, and another thing - have to share this quote here, cause this really is a Metamoro song to me:
> 
> _I'd tell myself you don't mean a thing_   
>  _But what we got, got no hold on me?_   
>  _But when you're not there I just crumble_   
>  _I tell myself that I don't care that much_   
>  _But I feel like I'm dying till I feel your touch_   
>  _Only love, only love can hurt like this_
> 
> \- From Paloma Faith's "Only love can hurt like this"


	5. Chapter 5

Giada dropped the kids off at Fabrizio’s place in the next morning and when Ermal got out of the house to say hello to her too, a smile flickered on her lips that was a little too knowing for Ermal’s likes. But he chose to ignore it for now, to just focus on having a nice day with his _friend_ and his children. Anita jumped into Ermal’s open arms with a bright smile, Libero hugged him too and Ermal was too busy with hugging them back to notice the raised eyebrow that Giada directed at Fabrizio, or how he blushed at that.

Once Giada had left they prepared breakfast together and then took their plates outside, enjoying pancakes outside on the terrace. Anita told them about she had been to the zoo with her friends last weekend, “Ermal have you ever seen a baby elephant, do you know how cute they are?”, Libero asked how Fabrizio’s last concert had been which caused a bright smile to appear on his father’s face (and if Ermal hadn’t already been aware how deeply he had fallen for this man, he would have done so now) and then they talked about football for a bit. 

“Papa, can we go to the beach today?”, Anita asked, and it was not as if Fabrizio would have said no to this, but she already continued talking and presented a very convincing argument. “I’m sure Ermal would like that too, right?”

Being faced with Anita’s big brown eyes looking at him all expectant Ermal couldn’t help but chuckle, and then he nodded and agreed that he would indeed love going to the beach. So that was settled, they packed everything they needed into the car and Ermal snatched the car keys out of Fabrizio’s hand, following his friend’s directions while driving.

 

At the beach, they laid down their towels and Ermal smiled when he saw Libero helping his sister with putting sunscreen on her back. And then, he had to fake a cough, cause the sound that escaped his lips when Fabrizio took off his shirt, tattoos on full display and hair sticking in every direction possible was entirely inappropriate. 

The day continued to be difficult for Ermal, because shouldn’t it be forbidden for Fabrizio to look that cute while playing with his children in the waves, and was it really necessary for him to lick his lips like this when they had ice cream later? Ermal was thankful for his sunglasses, hiding how he was staring at Fabrizio, and he was actually glad when his friend asked him if it was alright with him if Fabri and Libero would play football for a bit while he had an eye on Anita. So Ermal focused on building a sand castle with the little girl, listened to her stories about the adventures she had been up to together with Francesco, her plush crocodile, and managed to only once or twice sneak a glance at Fabrizio, running around sweating and laughing in delight whenever his son managed to sneak past him with the ball. 

 

Anita and Ermal then agreed to go for a little beach walk together, collecting some shells, and when the girl spotted a bright red rubber dinghy she ran towards it. A young woman was laying next to the boat, dark curls and a rainbow bikini, and she smiled at Anita once she reached the boat.

“Hello”, Anita said, “Can I maybe paddle around with your boat for a bit?”, and Ermal doubted that anyone on this planet would have been able to say no to that smile of Anita.

“You’re welcome to, if your dad doesn’t mind?”

She looked at Ermal, and he needed a moment to follow her. _Oh,_ he thought, and was just about to explain that he wasn’t her dad when Anita started talking again.

“I’m sure Ermal won’t mind, right?”, and Ermal could only nod.

Anita looked very happy at that and the woman helped her inside the boat before pulling the boat into the water. Ermal kept a close eye at them, saw Anita squealing in delight every time a wave lifted the boat up, and when they came back to the shore, Anita hugged the woman goodbye, who smiled at Ermal and said “You’ve got a very cute little girl there.”

“Yes, I do”, Ermal answered with a smile, and then hurried to follow Anita who had spotted a crab that required further inspection.

 

When Ermal and Anita came back to their towels, the little one told Fabrizio and her brother about her cruising adventure and Ermal still was caught in his thoughts about how that stranger had thought him to be Anita’s dad. And he had to admit that as impossible as it might be, this was a very nice thought. 

Anita and Libero started to play with a frisbee while Fabrizio laid down at Ermal’s side, closing his eyes with a relaxed smile on his face.

“It’s nice that you’re here with us today”, Fabrizio said after a moment, and Ermal had to swallow.

“Yeah, I’m having a lot of fun. Your kids truly are the best.”

“They are, and they really love you”, and with that Fabrizio opened his eyes. And it felt as if there was something else he wanted to say, but right then, Anita started to shout at Libero for throwing the frisbee too far away, and the two men were shaken out of the moment.

 

In the evening, both kids were tired from their beach day and while Libero fell asleep in the car, Anita was yawning the whole drive home. Ermal promised to tell her a bedtime story while Fabrizio carried her brother to his bed, and once he had Anita tugged inside her blankets, she asked him if he could maybe tell her a story about bunnies, as she had seen them in the zoo and their ears were the most adorable thing she ever had laid eyes on. 

“Do you know where bunnies sleep?”, Ermal asked, and was answered with a wide-eyed stare from Anita, her pigtails dancing with the movement of her shaking her head no.

So Ermal told her a story about a bunny looking for the most comfortable place to sleep who finally put his hammock up between the antlers of a deer he was friends with, and when he finished, she only barely was able to keep her eyes open. Ermal smiled down at her before softly kissing her forehead, and Anita hugged him close for a moment.

“Papa, will you give me a goodnight kiss too?”, Anita asked and Ermal turned around. He hadn’t been aware that Fabrizio was standing in the doorframe, and now his friend walked to them, kissing his little girl before turning the lights off.

 

Ermal and Fabrizio walked out of her room together and after the door had been softly closed, they looked at each other. And there was something in Fabrizio’s glance, something that put a sudden courage into Ermal’s heart.

“Bizio?”

“Yes?”

“Do I get one too?”

“A what?”, Fabrizio asked, his voice nothing more than a raspy whisper.

“A goodnight kiss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That meeting at the beach is inspired by current events, aka me just laying around in the sand yesterday when this cute little girl turned up, followed by her dad with his eyebrow piercing and his curls, and my heart stopped for a second or two.


	6. Chapter 6

“A goodnight kiss”, Ermal said, his gaze fixed on Fabrizio’s dark eyes.

Fabrizio opened his mouth, closed it again, swallowed. Looked at Ermal with wide, confused eyes, and Ermal wished he could take it back. That was not the reaction he had hoped for, and oh god, what if he just had ruined their friendship, _what if-_

“Ermal?”, Fabrizio placed his hand on Ermal’s shoulder, noticed how his friend was shaking. And there was such a deep regret in Ermal’s eyes, it nearly was enough to answer the question burning at Fabrizio’s tongue.

“Did you, did you mean this as just a goodnight kiss, or do you, oh Ermal, please tell me you-“

“I’d like to kiss you goodnight and good morning for every day to come. I”, Ermal took a deep breath before he continued, “I think I might have fallen head over heels for you, Bizio.”

At Ermal’s words, a bright smile broke out on Fabrizio’s face, and he moved his hand away from Ermal’s shoulder, softly touching his cheek with it.

“I’d be very happy to do exactly that”, Fabrizio whispered, and with that, he leaned in.

 

Their first kiss was short, a gentle peck of lips on lips, and when they parted, Fabrizio asked, with a grin: “So you really do feel the same?”

The wonder in Fabrizio’s voice, the happiness, caused Ermal to giggle along with him.

“The butterflies in my stomach make me feel like a teenager every time I see you, every time you touch me”, Ermal admitted.

And at Ermal’s words, something about Fabrizio’s smile changed, it nearly was a smirk now. He stepped closer to Ermal, burying one of his hands in soft curls.

“Oh, is that so?”

When their lips met a second time, it was with all the longing that had built between them, all the passion – lips exploring each other’s, tongues meeting, Fabrizio tugging at Ermal’s curls, Ermal’s hands slipping under Fabrizio’s shirt. It seemed to last forever, just the two of them getting lost in the feeling, the taste of each other, and at the same time, it was way too short, the need to breathe forcing them to part way too early. 

 

“What do we do now?”, Ermal asked, and Fabrizio’s answer surprised him. Because Ermal had meant their life, the big questions – he had basically just told that he loved Fabrizio, would like to spend his life with him, to which Fabri hadn’t seem opposed. And now they stood here, and they just had kissed, finally, every touch of their lips feeling like coming home in the most exciting way. Ermal was pretty sure that meant they were dating now, so should they tell people about them? That was too early wasn’t it? What about going out together, romantic restaurants, flowers? Should they let Fabri’s children know? What would this mean for their music, for their-

“How about we watch the second Lord of the Rings movie, and therewhile cuddle a little?”, Fabrizio interrupted Ermal’s spiraling thoughts with a smile, and Ermal couldn’t help but fall a little bit more in love. Just the idea calmed him down already, and Fabrizio knew that very well. Cause the choice of movie was not coincidentally.

They had watched the first Lord of the Rings movie together one evening in Lisbon - one of those times when they both were desperate to get their thoughts off the ESC, still always coming back to that topic until at some point, Ermal had mentioned one of the movies. They got into talking about them and then Ermal couldn't believe what Fabrizio said, because "How on earth is it possible that you've never seen the Extended Editions? It's like it's a whole other movie!" So Fabrizio had prepared some tea and snacks while Ermal got his laptop ready, and they watched the Fellowship together, sitting on the hotel suite's little sofa. Their thighs brushing against each other’s, and when he thought about it now, Ermal became aware just how far gone he already had been back then.

 

"Your television has an internet connection, right?"

"Well in theory, yes, but somehow, I never quite got that to work", Fabrizio admitted. 

Ermal wondered for a second if he should try to fix this, but Fabrizio already asked him if he could just get his laptop from his workroom quickly. So Ermal went there, looking around for the laptop, and smiled. There was a picture of the two of them on top of the piano, an official one, and next to Fabrizio's desk, he had a cork board hanging at the wall. Ermal saw his own face again, though the selfie that Fabri had pinned there was a private one, none of them ever had posted it. On the picture, Fabrizio wasn't looking in the camera but rather at Ermal, and now that he focused on this, while still feeling Fabri's lips on his, he couldn't do anything about the huge grin breaking out on his face. Not that he would have minded - he felt nothing but pure happiness in that moment, and he loved it.

"Ermal? Did you find the laptop?", Fabrizio asked while walking into the room, and then he saw where Ermal was looking. The selfie of them, surrounded by pictures of Fabrizio's family, his band, the people he loved. 

He smiled while he walked over and then stood behind Ermal, his chest to his friend's ( _boyfriend's?_ They would have to talk about this) back, and he took him in his arms while resting his head at Ermal's shoulder. 

"That was a nice day", Fabri commented, getting lost in memories for a moment; memories of them in a foreign city, of delicious food, exploring things together, of not understanding a word that anyone said but not minding because there only was one person about whose words he truly cared.

Ermal nodded. "It was, though I like today better." 

"Tell me why?", Fabrizio asked with a smirk and Ermal had to chuckle once again. And this alone was wonderful, this careless happiness that a certain Roman managed to bring out in him.

"Cause back then, I didn't actually find the courage to ask you for a kiss", he whispered, the honesty in his voice making Fabri's heart melt.

 

It took them a few minutes filled with a kiss or the other until they finally settled on Fabrizio’s bed to watch the movie; one of his arms around Ermal’s shoulders, their heads leaning against each other’s. When Haldir died, Fabrizio’s hold on Ermal tightened because he felt him shaking a little, and then close to the end, Fabrizio had to blink away a tear himself.

_“What are we holding on to, Sam?”_

_“That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”_

Shortly after, the credits started rolling, and neither Fabri or Ermal moved, none of them wanting this moment to be over quite yet. Finally, after the music had ended, Fabrizio closed his laptop and put it on the bedside table, and then he looked towards Ermal. Ermal, his curls a mess and a smile on his lips, his head resting on Fabrizio’s pillow.

“Would you like to stay here tonight?”

“Yes, yes I would like that”, Ermal said, and just snuggled deeper into the blanket. And yes, Fabrizio could get used to this…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd be delighted if you also had a look at my Pirate AU :)


	7. Chapter 7

The second time Ermal woke up in Fabrizio’s bed was a little different from the first one, mainly because Ermal actually knew how he had gotten there. What wasn’t any different though was the fact that he was alone in the bed, no Fabrizio to be seen anywhere, and Ermal was not sure what to think about this. They had fallen asleep in each other’s arms yesterday, after such a wonderful day together, and they had _kissed_ , oh lord, they actually had, he had kissed Fabrizio and Fabrizio had kissed him, and Ermal probably would still need some time to process this. So why would Fabrizio leave now? Ermal refused to allow his mind to entertain the possibility that Fabri might regret anything, he refused to panic, and when he had a careful look around, he got rewarded.

On Fabrizio’s pillow, there was a piece of paper, and when Ermal picked it up to read he found the words _“I’m in the kitchen to prepare breakfast – didn’t want to wake you up just yet”_ scribbled there. And, as if that wouldn’t already have been enough for Ermal’s heart to beat faster, the sweetness of the gesture in combination with how old fashioned it was to actually write a note instead of a text to his phone, the little heart drawn in the corner surely would have done the job. 

So Ermal got up with a smile, and then his eyes landed on a pile of Fabrizio’s shirts in the clothes basket underneath the window. He walked over there, hesitated a second and then picked up one of the band shirts. It smelled like a flowery fabric softener that Ermal had come to associate with Fabrizio as the other man used it quite a lot, and Ermal decided to just wear this shirt for today. Yes, he might have a suitcase filled with his own clothes just a few meters away, but that didn’t matter. He would wear Fabrizio’s shirt, just because he _could._ And when Ermal later noticed how Fabri’s eyes widened when he walked into the kitchen wearing his shirt, he knew that this had been a good decision.

 

Fabrizio prepared some scrambled eggs while Ermal had a look at the coffee machine, and somehow, they ended up holding hands while doing so. Which wasn’t the most practical thing to do, as most kitchen tasks were indeed significantly easier to do when using both hands, but it was not like one of them minded. Ermal softly stroked the sun tattooed to Fabrizio’s skin with his thumb, felt the goosebumps starting there, and he was just about to lean in for a kiss ( _yes, a kiss, that’s what we do nowadays, I can just kiss Bizio when I’d like to_ , his mind supplied) when they heard a voice.

"Papa?", Anita asked while walking into the kitchen, and Fabri flinched. He turned around quickly, smiling at his daughter, and therewhile let go of Ermal's hand. And Ermal tried to not let that sting, he really did - he understood it if Fabrizio didn't want his children to know about their relationship yet, as everything still was oh so new. And yet..

Fabrizio went to make Anita a cup of tea while Ermal set the table and then once he had sat down at one of the kitchen chairs, the little girl climbed on Ermal's lap, her plush crocodile in her arms.

"Do you also know where the crocodiles sleep?", Anita asked, referring to the bedtime story Ermal had told the previous evening, and he had to laugh.

"Yeah, I might have heard about that."

Anita's eyes went wide at that, and she turned around in Ermal's arms to be able to look at her dad.

"Papa, can Ermal stay with us? I wanna learn about where _all_ of the animals sleep!"

Fabrizio smiled at his little one but his grip on the tea mug tightened, and then his gaze fixed on Ermal. On Ermal, with his eyes widened, surprised about Anita’s words. On Ermal, holding his daughter in his arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world while sitting in his kitchen, after sleeping in his bed, wearing one of his shirts. And Fabrizio had to take a deep breath as it suddenly hit him just how very much he too wanted what Anita had said. How very much he would love it if Ermal could stay with them, if they could just have this domestic life together. How much he wanted Ermal’s questionable cooking skills and his complains about Fabrizio’s driving and his clothes and his sometimes grumpiness. And there was a certain sentence dancing through Fabrizio’s mind, and he didn’t say it, not yet, this seemed too early, but at the same time, he was oh so sure that it was true, and that he would tell Ermal sooner or later. 

 

Libero then joined them for breakfast, and his eyes flickered over the shirt Ermal was wearing. He tilted his head a bit to the side at that and then went back to focus on his scrambled eggs, unaware of his dad’s gaze on him. 

Later that day, they got to the park, Ermal driving once again, and when he saw Fabrizio’s hand resting on his knee right next to him, Ermal was oh so tempted to just take it. But he didn’t, cause they had the kids with them, and it was not only the thought of safety motivating him, there also was the memory of Fabrizio letting go of his hand in the morning, and he really didn’t want to force any revelations here that Fabrizio was not ready for. So Ermal held the wheel a little tighter, trying to focus on Anita singing along to the radio. Which was adorable, especially because it was an English song, and when Fabrizio joined in, Ermal could hardly focus on the road for a moment with how funny they sounded. And in the rearview mirror, he saw Libero rolling his eyes, but he did it with a smile.

In the park, they all played football together, Ermal being amazed by how easily Libero out dribbled him, and just when they thought about starting their picnic it started to rain quite heavily. So they were quick to collect their things and ran towards the car, getting soaking wet nevertheless. Fabrizio first made sure that his kids safely sat inside the car and the he looked at Ermal, his hair hanging into his eyes making him look like a drowned poodle, and he carefully raised his hand to brush a few curls out of his face. And then he stepped back, determinately not looking at Ermal’s lips and just thinking of his children probably watching them. Which they were – and then Libero and Anita exchanged a look, agreeing to talk about this later.

 

Back at home, Ermal helped Anita to dry her hair and then both of the kids went to Libero’s room while Fabrizio prepared some hot chocolate for everyone. Ermal stood next to him, their shoulders brushing, and then Fabri held out a marshmallow for Ermal with a sweet smile. Which soon turned into an expression of pupils blown wide and biting his lower lip at the way that Ermal licked his fingers when getting that marshmallow; their gazes locked the whole time. And oh, Fabrizio was looking forward to some further explorations on that topic.

 

They took the hot chocolate mugs to the living room and shortly after, the children walked in, both of them looking at Ermal and Fabrizio, and their dad could sense that something was up here.

"Papa, can we talk about something please?", Libero asked, and Fabrizio nodded.

"Yes, of course, we can talk about anything."

Fabrizio sat down at the sofa and fixed his kids with a serious expression. Therewhile, Ermal started to walk out of the room, this was family business, he would just-

"Ermal, please stay?", Libero asked, his voice so polite, and Ermal sat down next to Fabrizio. Both of them waiting in anticipation.

Libero took a deep breath before he started talking.

"Anni and me just wanted to let you know that we don't mind it when you two hold hands, or something the like", the boy explained, a serious expression on his face. Anita nodded along, trying not to look too enthusiastic at the idea of her dad and Ermal holding hands because her brother had told her how important it was to be serious here, as it was a very important topic.

"Really?", Fabrizio asked, the smile audible in his voice.

"Of course not. We just want you to be happy, Papa."

Fabrizio could have cried at that already, and Anita's next sentence made it worse.

"And we really like Ermal, we'd like to keep him", she explained, and then walked towards the sofa, climbing up to sit between Ermal and Fabrizio.

Fabri hugged his daughter close, and when she tugged at Ermal's curls to get him to join their hug, when he saw the brilliant smile on his boyfriend's face, a tear finally escaped Fabrizio's eye. And then Libero joined their hug, the four of them one pile of limbs on top of the sofa, and Fabrizio closed his eyes, feeling happy and oh so very peaceful…


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I haven't really slept since Ermal's concert on friday, and okay, I also didn't much before that, but somehow my tired mind came up with this and I rather like it.

If you had asked him in the morning, Fabrizio wouldn't have been able to tell what woke him up in the night, but something did. His sleepy mind wondered for a second if he should just turn to his other side, try to go back to his dream which had been rather nice, cuddle a little closer to Ermal- _wait_. Ermal wasn't there, and that realization had Fabrizio wide awake. He sat up and looked towards the bathroom door, but he could see that the light there wasn't on, and yes, there might be a very harmless explanation here, Ermal might have just gone to the kitchen to make himself some tea after not being able to sleep, but still.. Fabrizio didn't like this, and so he got up from the bed, walking towards the kitchen. Only to find it dark and abandoned as well, and now he couldn't deny that he was worried.

What if Ermal had left? Everything had seemed fine yesterday, especially after the talk they had with the children, and in the evening, they once again had fallen asleep in each other's arms, so this really didn't make sense. Still, Fabrizio went towards the front door, the clothes rack next to it, and was relieved to see Ermal's jacket there. So he hadn't left, which only left the question- Oh lord, what if he had left without his jacket for some reason, out there it had to be cold right now, and what if Ermal would get sick-

Suddenly, Fabrizio heard a faint noise, and he walked towards it, towards the direction of his work room. Music. Even before opening the door he could hear the sound of a guitar being played, and he quickly tried to tell his still racing heart that everything was okay. Ermal probably just had woken up with a song idea that wouldn't let him go until it was played, written down, kept in mind to maybe turn into something magnificent one day, and then decided to go to Fabrizio's work space.

 

Fabrizio carefully opened the door and saw Ermal sitting there, in a chair next the window, his back to the wall. And for once Fabri couldn't focus on the fact that Ermal was wearing one of his sleep shirts, or on how adorably messy his curls looked, or how nice it was that he was playing one of his own guitars, no. Because there were tracks of tears on Ermal's cheeks, and Fabrizio hurried to be by his side, needed to take him into his arms and comfort him.

Ermal hadn't noticed the door opening, too caught up in his music and his thoughts, but at some point, he heard the sound of Fabrizio's steps getting closer, and he flinched. Violently. The guitar clattered to the floor with a bang and Ermal looked even more shaken now, his eyes not meeting Fabrizio's.

"I'm sorry", Ermal whispered, got up from the chair to collect the guitar from the floor, and Fabrizio noticed the trembling in his shoulders. And Fabrizio was not sure what was going on here, but it broke his heart.

"Ermal?", Fabrizio asked, therewhile taking the guitar out of Ermal's shaking hands to lean it against the wall, and he noticed how the younger man seemed to retreat a little bit more towards the wall when he got closer. So Fabrizio stopped in his movements, and started talking with a voice as soft as he could.

"Ermal, amore mio, please look at me."

After a moment of hesitation, Ermal did, and there still were tears in his eyes, but he didn't look quite as frightened anymore.

"I'm sorry", Ermal said once again, and if the circumstances had been different, Fabrizio would have ruffled his hair and informed him that he should stop saying this, as there really was nothing to be sorry for here. But now, he decided to not get any closer to Ermal, as to not scare him again.

 

"Sweetheart, can you tell me what's wrong? What happened?"

"I had a nightmare", Ermal said without looking at Fabrizio, and then continued, "It's stupid, I shouldn't let it get to me that much anymore and usually I'm better at handling these, but somehow tonight it was different, and I didn't want to wake you so I decided to go here."

Fabrizio felt his heart breaking.

"Shh, it's okay, just try to take a few deep breaths for me, alright?"

Ermal did, and Fabrizio continued to talk.

"Would it be okay if I came closer to you?"

At that, Ermal looked torn, and at the same time, nearly ashamed.

"Could we, maybe we could just, sit together for a bit?"

Fabrizio tried not to let it show what the vulnerability, the hesitance in Ermal's voice did to him; he focused on being strong here and nodding with a little smile.

"Of course we can", he said, and then slit down the wall to sit at the carpet.

 

Ermal sat down next to Fabrizio, a few centimeters between them, his eyes fixed on his hands hugging his knees close to his body, his curls therewhile hiding his face from Fabrizio's gaze. Without thinking about it much, Fabrizio started to tell a story, then another one, recalled some of the shenanigans that Libero and his friends had been up to recently, and when he ran out of those, he sang. Some of his own songs, some others, some melodies that might become songs one day. 

Next to him, Fabrizio could hear Ermal's breath get calmer, and at one point, Ermal rested his head at Fabrizio's shoulder, still with a hint of hesitancy. Fabrizio placed a feather light kiss at his temple and couldn't quite hide his relief when Ermal snuggled closer at this, one of his hands coming to rest at Fabrizio's stomach. Pale fingers that weren't quite trembling anymore soon got caressed by tattooed ones, and Fabrizio could feel his back, his whole body protesting against this sitting on the floor, but he couldn't remember a thing in his life he had cared about less.

Fabrizio was not sure how much time had passed, but at some point, Ermal raised his head from his shoulder to look at him. And there it was, one of Ermal's precious smiles, and Fabrizio finally released a breath that felt like he had been holding it since waking up alone.

"Thank you", Ermal said, and Fabrizio just carefully extended his hand to caress Ermal's cheek.

"Can I give you a kiss?", and Fabrizio waited for Ermal to answer, didn't do anything before he was sure that it was okay.

"Yes", came the answer, together with another smile of Ermal, and when their lips met, it was short and sweet and oh so gentle.

 

Fabrizio suggested going back to bed to catch a little more sleep, but once Ermal had agreed, he was faced with a problem, as his back now refused any cooperation in the task of getting up from the floor.

"Need help there, old man?", Ermal asked, and Fabrizio laughed, delighted that his love was back to joking and smiling and looking at him with a sparkle in his eyes rather than tears and a frightened hesitation.

Ermal helped Fabrizio to get up and they walked towards the bedroom holding hands.

"Do you maybe want me to get you something to drink, or a snack or anything?", Fabrizio asked once he had made sure that Ermal was tucked nicely into their blanket, but he shook his head.

"No, just- stay?"

Fabrizio's heart might have melted here, not for the first and certainly not for the last time when being faced with a certain Ermal Meta, and he hurried to lay down next to him and take him into his arms. Ermal rested his head at Fabrizio's chest, listening to his heartbeat, and since what Ermal had said earlier had sounded like a question, Fabrizio felt like he should answer this.

"Forever, amore mio."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning due to demand of a dear friend: don't read this in your kitchen when there might be other people present ;D

The day’s first rays of sunshine were shining through the bedroom’s open curtains, illuminating the room in a gentle light. Fabrizio witnessed the change of light while at the same time, he didn’t quite feel like a part of what was happening outside there. The beginning of a new day, the sky turning into a bright blue, the birds and the cars providing some background noise, none of this mattered at this moment. What did matter was the warm feeling in Fabrizio’s heart, and the gentle tickling of soft curls that he could feel at his cheek. 

Ermal’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, his pupils moving behind closed eyelids, and Fabrizio smiled. He had stayed awake ever since they had gone back to bed, holding Ermal in his arms and watching over him. And to see now how relaxed his face looked, what a contrast it was to the effects of his nightmare earlier, Fabrizio could feel the relief in his body. He wished he could always protect Ermal, be it from bad dreams or everything outside of them that might dare to hurt this precious human being.

Fabrizio had no idea how much time had passed while he had just been busy with watching Ermal’s face, he didn’t want to know, but at some point, the curly head at his shoulder started to move, and brown eyes blinked open at him.

“Hmm, good morning”, Ermal mumbled with a little smile, and then snuggled a little closer to Fabrizio, which hardly seemed possible but somehow, he managed.

Fabrizio placed a good morning kiss at Ermal’s forehead and then started playing with his curls, both of them feeling the peace of this moment. Until Ermal yawned at one point, and Fabrizio remembered something – not only that his love had not gotten as much sleep as he should have last night, but also that he wanted to talk about something there.

 

“Last night, you said that you had left here cause you didn’t want to wake me up, and I, well I just wanted to tell you that of course it’s fine if you need time to yourself but please never hesitate to wake me up if you feel as if there’s just a slight chance of that making you feel better.”

“Really?”, Ermal asked, his smile showing that he knew how very sincere Fabrizio was being here, and Fabri had to kiss that smile right off his lips.

“Of course”, Fabrizio then said, their foreheads leaning together after the kiss, “Sleep could never be as important as my wonderful boyfriend.”

At that Ermal leaned back a bit, his eyes wide.

“You just called me your boyfriend.”

“Yes?”

“We, you know we never actually talked about this, and-“, Ermal trailed off, feeling a little stupid now. They basically had confessed that they loved each other, maybe not in the exact words but certainly in meaning, and since then they had spent most of their time kissing, cuddling or smiling at each other; it was not like the term of being boyfriends should be that much of a surprise. And still, it somehow was. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that before meeting Fabrizio, Ermal had never entertained the thought of having a _boyfriend_ someday, he didn’t know. What he did know was just how very happy he would be to call Fabrizio exactly that.

“Ermal?”, Fabrizio asked, a hint of insecurity in his voice. And oh damn, Ermal realized that his silence could be interpreted a little wrong here.

“I’d love to be your boyfriend”, Ermal said, and the bright smile Fabrizio answered him with might have been the most beautiful thing he ever laid eyes on.

 

After some more kisses, Ermal went to the bathroom, and once he came back, he was greeted with quite a nice sight. Fabrizio was standing in front of the window, sunlight getting caught in his hair, and he was just busy with closing the buttons on his shirt, or well, the two or three he actually bothered to close. And there was something about this, the tattoos and the tan skin of his firm chest peeking out through the dark blue fabric; Ermal couldn’t take his eyes away. Once Fabrizio noticed his gaze, he smirked, and oh, Ermal was lost. He swallowed and then quickly walked closer, their lips meeting in a kiss that was anything but soft and gentle like the ones they had exchanged earlier this morning.

Ermal slipped a hand under Fabrizio’s shirt, letting it wander over the skin of his back, and then Fabri pulled his hair to deepen their kiss even more. Neither could Ermal deny just how much he liked his hair being pulled just like this nor that the sound escaping his lips at this had been nothing but a straight-out moan. Fabrizio seemingly knew exactly what he was doing as he did it again; one of his hands in Ermal’s curls while the other one was located at his hip, maneuvering him towards the bed, and once the back of his legs hit the bedframe Ermal just let himself fall backwards. 

Fabrizio hovered over him, his hand moving from Ermal’s curls to lightly stroke his cheek, and with a voice even raspier than usual he asked “Are you sure you want this?”

“I do, I want this, Bizio I want _you_ ”, Ermal said before wrapping his arms around Fabrizio to get him closer for another kiss, and then suddenly Fabri’s lips were at his neck, not in a fleeting and barely there way like they sometimes had been when they hugged, no. Fabrizio was leaving open mouthed kisses at the sensitive skin, sucking, and when he felt a hint of teeth Ermal couldn’t help but arch his head back and dig his nails into the flesh of Fabrizio’s shoulders. 

 

“Papa?”, a voice suddenly called from outside the door, and as much as Fabrizio loved his daughter, Anita never had worse timing.

“Yes, princess?”, he called back, trying to hide how out of breath he was.

“Can we have breakfast please, I’m hungry and also it’s nice weather outside so we should maybe _do_ something?”

“Of course, we’ll be there in a minute!”

They heard tiny footsteps walking away, and Fabrizio buried his face in the pillow next to Ermal. Next to Ermal, who had the audacity to chuckle at him.

“Maybe we should continue this some other time?”, the younger man suggested, and Fabrizio ruefully agreed.

 

At breakfast, Fabrizio later couldn’t help but notice that Ermal had decided to wear a shirt showing off quite a lot of his skin today, in combination with one of those weird tiny scarfs that Fabrizio had never managed to understand. And the damned thing did nothing to hide the hickeys adorning the pale skin of Ermal’s neck. Furthermore, Fabrizio was convinced that while the strawberry marmalade was yummy it wasn’t as good as to be a reason for Ermal to actually close his eyes while biting into his croissant, or to lick his lips as shamelessly as he did afterwards. And he couldn’t even bring himself to pretend that he wasn’t highly enjoying what Ermal was doing there…


	10. Chapter 10

As soon as they had finished their breakfast, Anita insisted on going outside, and they made themselves comfortable in the garden. Libero went towards the tomatoes he had planted in spring, and that actually were growing quite well, to Fabrizio’s surprise – maybe his son would turn out more of a gardener than he was. While the boy had a close look at his plants, Anita opened the box with her Lego she had brought outside, and then came towards Ermal with a smile. Fabrizio was aware that he might be a little biased when it came to Anita, but still, even if he weren’t – he was convinced that not a single human being on earth could have resisted the smile that accompanied Anita’s question if Ermal would maybe like to play with her. 

So Ermal sat down on the soft grass with her, and together they built a bed for Anita’s plush crocodile Francesco out of Lego stones. Fabrizio watched them with a fond smile on his face, and when Anita declared the bed finished and went towards Libero to ask him if she could name his tomatoes, Ermal sat down in the chair next to Fabrizio. Ermal wanted to say something, express somehow what this meant to him, to have Fabri trust him with his kids like this, to tell him how much he loved these children, but for once, he had no idea what the right words might be. Instead, Ermal grabbed Fabrizio’s hand, intertwined their fingers and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on his lips. They heard a distant “Awwww” in the voice of a little girl, and when Fabrizio softly smiled at this, Ermal got a very warm feeling in his chest. Kissing no one but Fabrizio Moro himself already would have been a miracle, but doing it in front of his children, who approved of this, of _them_ , it was better than Ermal had ever dared to dream.

Later, Fabrizio closed his eyes for a little nap and Ermal got out the book he had brought with him; stopping his reading every few sentences to have a look at the children that now were busy with inspecting a snail that slowly made its way across the pavement. The day went on, Anita got inside to get some cookies and when she placed one of them at Ermal’s knee, he ruffled her hair with a smile. She seemed to like this, and after a little giggling she also brought a cookie to her brother. And Ermal had to swallow, because he suddenly thought about how this domestic family feeling was something he’d never thought he’d have one day, and oh wow, this was a little overwhelming. Fabrizio must have sensed that Ermal was deep in some serious thoughts, as his hand appeared in his curls and softly started playing with them, grounding the younger man, and Ermal took a deep breath before he got back to focus on the story in his book.

 

Ermal was engrossed in his book when suddenly, Fabrizio yelped and his hand vanished from Ermal's curls. The younger man looked up, only to see his boyfriend (and oh, thinking that word still sent an excited tickling through his whole body) in a shirt that was soaking wet. A few meters away, Libero stood half behind a bush, a water gun in his hands and trying not to chuckle. Fabrizio laughed with him and planned on getting inside to change into a dry shirt, but then he remembered something. How Ermal had eaten his croissant in the morning, and how he had looked at Fabrizio afterwards. 

Well, two could play a game, so Fabrizio stood up and nonchalantly got out of his shirt. He then put it over an empty chair close by to dry and sat down next to Ermal again. Ermal's eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses but Fabrizio could see the way his teeth were grazing his lower lip, how he was swallowing. Shortly after, Anita appeared with a water bottle and asked Fabrizio to please open it for her, and when he flexed the muscles in his arm a little more than it would have been necessary while opening it, he made sure that Ermal was watching. And as much as Ermal loved the kids, in this moment he might have been looking forward a little to the evening that Fabrizio and him would have just to themselves.

 

They later made a pizza together, Fabrizio taking the knife out of Ermal’s hands as soon as he had grabbed it, and then the younger man got assigned with the relatively safe task of setting the table while Anita and Libero sat in front of the oven.

“Oh, tell me what’s on TV today?”, Fabrizio asked while he got down to sit with them, and Anita pointed towards the oven in excitement.

“Pizza TV!”, the little girl exclaimed, and Ermal had to laugh. Then, he subtly got out his phone and snapped a picture of the three Mobricis sitting at the kitchen floor staring at their pizza that even contained some of Libero’s tomatoes, and maybe that pic later ended up in a frame in Ermal’s bedroom.

After they had eaten the pizza it was time for the children to pack their things together, and Libero asked Ermal if maybe he could help him a little. So Ermal went to the boy’s room with him and sat down at the bed, letting his gaze wander over the football posters at the wall until they ended up on a picture of a newborn Anita in Fabri’s arms, Libero holding his dad’s hand and all of them smiling into the camera. It was truly adorable, and Ermal only stopped staring at it when Libero started talking.

“You know, it really is cool to have you around here.”

Ermal smiled at that and then answered: “I’m glad you see it that way. And I really enjoy being here and spending time with you.”

The boy nodded at that, and then Ermal helped him to place his school books as well as everything else in his bag. Therewhile, they talked a little about Libero’s football practice, and then, as if it was a side note, he mentioned a game they would play in a few weeks. But by the way that Libero’s eyes were fixed on his face, Ermal could tell that this here was very important.

“Papa has already promised me that he’ll come to the game, and I thought maybe you could come to? Only if you want to of course.”

“I’d love to come”, Ermal said, which earned him a smile from Libero, and Ermal already couldn’t wait to go to the match all of them together.

 

“Will you also be here when we come visit next weekend?”, Anita asked Ermal when him and Libero joined the others at the front door, and Ermal had to shake his head.

“No sweetheart, I have to play a concert next weekend, and then a few in the following weeks, so I fear it will be a little while until I can visit you again.”

At that, Anita’s bottom lip started shaking, and she stepped forward to hug Ermal’s legs. He was quick to crouch down to be able to actually take her into his arms and then hugged her little body close, trying to not let the sobs he could hear break his heart.

“Ermal?”

“Yes Anita?”

“Can Francesco stay with you until you come back?”

“Of course”, Ermal said, his voice a little chocked with emotions. He then put Anita down and she went towards her backpack, got the plush crocodile out and handed it to Ermal.

“Take good care of him”, Anita said.

“I will, promised”, was Ermal’s answer, but Anita looked at him a little weirdly.

“I wasn’t talking to you”, she explained, and Ermal nearly dropped the crocodile.

Fabrizio, who stood a few steps away, heard the exchange between his youngest and his boyfriend, and when he saw the tear in Ermal’s eye while he took Anita in his arms once again, he whispered an “I love you”, low enough that Ermal didn’t hear it…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed reading this please leave a comment ❤


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time publishing something nsfw-ish, so I hope it's okay :)

Ermal hugged Anita once more before also taking her brother in his arms, and then he watched Fabrizio saying goodbye to his kids, his own arms now empty except for Francesco the crocodile. Shortly after Fabri had wished Libero good luck on his math test the following week, Giada’s car pulled into the gateway, and Ermal noticed how Fabrizio swallowed when the children started running towards their mom’s car. He grabbed Fabri’s hand to give it a quick squeeze, and then was surprised when Fabrizio kept it in a strong grip, linking their fingers together.

“Is this okay?”, Fabrizio asked with a glance towards the car that now had stopped, and Ermal nodded, with a smile. A nervous smile it was, but a smile nevertheless. 

Giada got out of the car, hugged her kids hello and then walked in the direction of Ermal and Fabrizio. And of course she saw how they were holding hands, saw Ermal’s nervous smile, the blush on Fabrizio’s cheeks once he noticed that she had noticed.

"I'm glad you've finally figured this out", Giada said with a smirk, and then, when she hugged Fabrizio, she whispered an "I'm happy for you". Fabri started smiling with his whole face and then went towards Giada's car to help Anita get into her seat, while Libero put his backpack inside the trunk, and Giada shook Ermal's hand. 

"Goodbye, it has been nice to see you again", she told him, and then, when he already was ready to get back inside, she called after him. "Oh, and Ermal?" 

The man in question turned back towards her and was met with a sugar sweet smile but a dangerous glimmer in her eyes. 

"Don't you dare to hurt him", she murmured, and then, before he could answer that, gave him a friendly clap to his shoulder. 

"Bye Ermal!" 

"Bye Giada!" 

They all waved at each other while Giada drove away with the kids in her car, and when Fabri went inside the house again with Ermal, he asked what the two of them had been talking about. But Ermal just shook his head with a smile, and then they dropped the topic. As it was pretty late already, Fabrizio quickly reheated some soup for dinner, and they ate that sitting cuddled up on the sofa.

 

Later, they went to the kitchen together to do the dishes, and therefore, Fabri turned on the little radio he kept on top of the fridge. At first there was the weather report, then a new song in Italian, and when Fabrizio just was busy with cleaning the pot they had used for their soup, another one started playing.

_Well it's Saturday night_   
_You're all dressed up in blue_   
_I been watching you awhile_   
_Maybe you been watching me too_

Ermal started to hum along softly, and there was something about this, about him doing so while drying the mug that Fabri had gotten from Libero for his last birthday, while wearing sweatpants and moving around the kitchen so naturally.. Fabri's heart might have skipped a beat or two, a lump forming in his throat, and when he softly touched Ermal's shoulder, the younger man carefully put the mug down.

Fabrizio leaned in for a kiss and then stayed in Ermal’s personal space, hugging his boyfriend close to his body, and while Ermal rested his head at Fabrizio's shoulder, they softly started moving along with the music. It wasn’t a real dance, no big movements involved, they were mostly just swaying on their feet, but it was perfect. Fabrizio was breathing in the smell of Ermal’s hair, felt the soft curls at his neck, Ermal’s hands clinging to his shoulders, and he never wanted to let go. Never wanted this moment to end. 

In the radio, Springsteen stopped singing, but neither Ermal or Fabrizio paid much attention to the new melody. They were still getting lost in the feeling of each other, and Ermal started thinking about it, about _them,_ about this moment. About how safe he felt with Fabrizio, how protected, here, in his arms, and how there was nowhere on this earth where he would rather be. 

 

Fabrizio placed a kiss in Ermal’s hair, and the younger man decided to try something. He moved one of his hands that had been clinging to his boyfriend’s shoulders downwards, and slipped it under the hem of Fabrizio’s shirt, feeling the warm skin there. When he let his fingers wander, he could feel goosebumps rising, and Fabrizio caught on the change in the mood, for he brought their lips together in a kiss that soon turned heated, and when he remembered how Ermal seemed to have enjoyed having his hair pulled, he tried this again, receiving some heavy breaths as an answer. 

“Anita won’t interrupt us this time, right?”, Ermal asked, and Fabrizio chuckled, before he had to kiss these lips again.

They made it to the bedroom slowly, with Fabrizio kissing Ermal against the wall of the living room so passionately that they nearly knocked over a lamp nearby, and when they finally got there, Fabrizio laid down at his bed. He looked up at Ermal, who was just watching him with hungry eyes, and when Ermal knelt down at the mattress, Fabrizio’s pulse sped up even more than it already was. 

Ermal’s elegant fingers started lightly running up and down Fabrizio’s sides, and after looking into Fabri’s eyes for confirmation that this was okay, he slowly opened the buttons of his shirt, one by one, revealing all these tattoos that Ermal might like quite a lot. Ermal then leaned down, placing his lips on letters, symbols, kissing his way down Fabrizio’s chest…

 

Some time later, there were whispers, words being murmured into heated skin… 

_“You’re so hot, Fabri, so gorgeous”_

_“Ermal, my beautiful Ermal”_

… compliments, worries, reassurances…

_“I’ve never actually, you know, with a man-“_

_“Shh, it’s alright, whatever you want-“_

_“I want this, everything, just.. Let us be gentle tonight? I’m scared I might hurt you-”_

_“You won’t, it all will be fine-“_

… more kisses, hands in hair, comforting murmurs, moving together, fingers intertwined, Ermal’s nails digging into the flesh of Fabrizio’s shoulders, so many new sensations, Fabri’s tattoos covered in sweat, Ermal’s curls dancing up and down…

They kept it gentle, not breaking their eye contact, taking in each other’s smiles, expressions of pleasure. There would be times to take things rougher, faster, but this night, it wasn’t about that. Tonight, they made love.

Ermal screamed “Fabrizio, Fabri, _Fabri_ ” when he felt nothing but his boyfriend everywhere, moaned something in Albanian when he saw stars in front of his eyes, and finally whispered a soft breathless “Bizio” when they laid in each other’s arms afterwards. 

 

And while Ermal fell asleep, his head resting at Fabrizio’s chest, the older man thought about the mysterious ways that life sometimes took; how he had been looking for _something_ for so long, only to find it (and so much more) in this wonderful human being whose soft breathing he could feel on his skin now…


	12. Chapter 12

Fabrizio woke up to the sound of rain drumming against the window and Ermal’s eyes looking at him. His boyfriend was so close, Fabri could have counted his lashes, and while there was a smile forming on his lips when he saw Fabrizio open his eyes, the older man couldn’t help but notice a hint of sadness in those beloved eyes. And he could understand it oh so well. Because Ermal would have to leave today; leave their little bubble where none of the outside world mattered, where it was only them, because he had responsibilities – concerts to play, interviews to give, people to meet. 

They both loved their job dearly, but right now, Ermal nearly wished he’d work in a store, a factory, some place in Rome where he would leave in the morning and could come back here in the evening; back home to Fabrizio. Ermal’s thoughts were swimming in melancholy and then suddenly, his breath hitched as he realized something. In his fantasy scenario, he had just thought of this, of Fabrizio’s house, as _home_. Oh. And it wasn’t, he knew it wasn’t, gosh, when he had travelled here they hadn’t even been a couple yet, but now? Now they were, and what if one day, what if there was a possibility... 

Ermal’s thoughts got interrupted when Fabrizio placed a little kiss on his nose, and Ermal just snuggled closer to him, feeling strong tattooed arms around him, holding him. 

“What time is it?”, Fabrizio asked after a moment, and Ermal closed his eyes. Wished it wouldn’t matter, that they could just pretend it didn’t.

Fabri sighed and let his fingers ghost over Ermal’s naked skin, to finally settle in his curls, to play with them, and he forbid himself to think about how much he would miss those during the next few weeks; how incredibly much he’d miss the softness, the little purring sounds that Ermal made when Fabri touched his hair and would deny later. Just like Ermal’s laugh, his blanket stealing, him softly humming a melody that he maybe wasn’t even aware of himself, the way he always seemed to hold onto a hug a little longer, his addicting kisses; all the little things Fabrizio had already known, the little things that had him fall helplessly in love with this man, the new things he had learned about in the past days. Like the fact that Ermal would start to get flustered when Fabrizio whispered sweet nothings in his ear, or that their hands fit into each other’s just as perfectly in bed as they did on stage. 

 

“I’ll miss you”, Ermal whispered, and before Fabrizio could think about how he might answer that statement, without showing just how much it broke his heart, he continued, “and it’s a little past nine, so I think we got around three hours before I have to leave.”

“Alright”, Fabrizio said, and started to get up, but Ermal’s hands clinging to his arm stopped him. He took one of his boyfriend’s hands in his, softly placed a kiss on top of it and then suggested: “How about I make us some breakfast, you can gather your things therewhile, and then we can have a late breakfast in bed, some pancakes, many cuddles?”

For the first time this morning, Ermal smiled, and after a deep, loving kiss, Fabrizio left to go to the kitchen. Ermal laid back into the soft pillows for a moment, inhaled the scent of Fabri’s shampoo, let his eyes wander around the room. Fabrizio’s white shirt was laying abandoned at the floor, a reminder of their activities last night, and Ermal smiled with the memory of the thrill he had felt when he opened those buttons, of everything that had happened afterwards. And when he stood up a few minutes later and started to collect his things from around the bedroom, he slipped the shirt into his bag.

Next, Ermal walked into the guest room, picked up a few clothes and smiled brightly when he looked at the bed, the guest bed that had been abandoned those past nights. Ermal was positive that the next time he would visit here, it would stay that way, and as much as it hurt to leave today, this was a very nice thing to focus on. That he would come back here, back to visit Fabrizio, back to visit _his boyfriend._

 

They met in Fabrizio’s bedroom again, him carrying a tablet with pancakes, some fruits, scrambled eggs and two tea mugs, and Ermal took one of the mugs with a smile before they settled into the blankets together; feeding each other strawberries while talking about when they would see each other next time. Making plans; plans to snatch away some private hours around a music festival, plans for Fabri to visit Ermal in Milan, plans for maybe going on a little holiday together once both their tours were finished, to some place they’d both never been to before. 

And way sooner than they would have liked, it already was time to leave, as Ermal couldn’t risk missing his plane. Fabrizio carried his luggage to the car and didn’t even try to argue when Ermal insisted that he would drive them to the airport, and while driving through the chaos that was Rome’s traffic, they were listening to the radio. At some point, _L'eternità_ started playing, and Fabri chuckled – only to stop shortly after, an expression of nothing but love taking over his face when Ermal started to sing along. Here was his boyfriend, driving his car, singing his song, and Fabrizio Moro was a happy man.

 

Ermal stopped the car at one end of the car park, granting them a bit of privacy, and when he shut of the engine, there was nothing to be heard than the rain that had started again and their breathing. He loosened his seatbelt and leaned around in his seat to face Fabrizio, who raised a hand to softly cup his cheek. 

“Call me when you’ve landed, okay?”, Fabrizio asked, when what he actually wanted to say was _I wish you could stay, I hate it that you have to leave, I already miss you._

“I will, of course I will”, Ermal answered, meaning _I can’t wait to hear your voice again, I can’t wait to be in your arms again._

They kissed, just once, but filled with so many emotions, and then Ermal got out of the car, collected his luggage. Fabrizio left his seat as well, to get to the driver’s side, and they hugged tightly, both not wanting to let go, not now, not ever, before Ermal started his walk towards the airport. And he already was a few meters away when Fabrizio called after him.

“Ermal?”

The younger man turned around, and Fabrizio tried to tell himself that it was just a result of the soft rain; that this wasn’t a tear at Ermal’s cheek.

“I’ve had a wonderful time this week”, Fabrizio said, and when Ermal answered “Me too”, they both knew that they meant so much more with this.

 

Fabrizio waited a few minutes next to his car, even after Ermal had vanished in the distance, not minding the rain or the people passing by who looked at him weirdly. Then, he drove back home, turned on some rock music in the living room to fight the deafening silence that had taken ownership of his house, settled at the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate. And started his laptop, because he had a plan.

He had just gotten to Google when something caught his eye, something white at the living room table – a note. In Ermal’s messy handwriting, it said _“See you soon, my love”_ , and next to it, there was what Fabrizio recognized as one of Ermal’s own bracelets. Fabri placed it around his wrist with a smile, and then snapped a picture to send it to Ermal, together with a little heart emoji…


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who noticed - yes, the chapter count went up, I splitted this one in two as it works better that way. And now there's three more to come after this :)

It had been five days since he had been driving with Ermal to the airport and Fabrizio was just busy with cleaning up the living room when his phone rang. Seeing Ermal’s name on the display put a smile on his face, and as soon as he saw his boyfriend, sitting on a hotel bed half a country away, smiling back at him, Fabri felt the butterflies everywhere in his stomach. (And he tried his best to concentrate on those only, not on the feeling of longing and missing something, missing his Ermal, nearly missing a part of himself.)

“Good evening, Bizio”, Ermal greeted, and a side glance towards the clock at the wall confirmed to Fabrizio that it indeed was quite late already; he had forgotten the time a little while cleaning up.

“Good evening, amore”, Fabrizio said, and even at his little phone display he was able to notice how Ermal’s smile got a little brighter at hearing the endearment.

Another thing he noticed though was the tired look in Ermal’s eyes, the rings under his eyes seeming a little darker than usual, and Fabrizio couldn’t help but worry a bit.

“Have you been able to catch some sleep?”

“Well”, Ermal started, then looked down, avoided Fabrizio’s eyes, “Not really, at least not as much as when I’ve been at your place.”

And there still was a smile on Ermal’s lips, but it seemed to be tinted with a hint of sadness now. Fabrizio wished he could reach through his phone and wrap his boyfriend in his arms, show him that he was safe, protected, loved; wished he could play with his hair until he fell asleep with a little relaxed smile. But he couldn’t, not with cold glass, so many kilometers and all their responsibilities between them, and that wasn’t a nice thing.

 

They talked about their days then, but there wasn’t too much to say – they had also called each other the previous evening and then exchanged some text messages, and there hadn’t been too many new things going on. Ermal had been busy with rehearsals for tomorrow’s concert the whole day while Fabri had worked on a new song a little before cleaning up his place; and on other evenings, Fabrizio would have suggested saying good night and ending their video call after he had heard Ermal tell the story of how Marco had threatened to hide his phone after one too many enamored smiles at a new text message for the third time. But today, he didn’t. Because there was something in Ermal’s eyes.. Fabrizio felt like his boyfriend needed him right now, as best as possible. Needed his company, and for that, he had an idea.

“What do you think about watching a movie together, like both of us watching the same thing?”

Ermal nodded with a smile and Fabri felt relieved at seeing this.

“Let me just have a quick look here, there aren’t too many channels at this hotel TV…”

Ermal got the remote control and placed the phone on the bed so Fabri could see him zapping through he channels with a concentrated face. He heard a snippet of a news magazine, then something that sounded like a football match, and suddenly, Ermal started to laugh.

“Oh my gosh Bizio, you have to see this!”

Fabrizio quickly walked to the sofa and turned on his own TV, only to frown deeply as soon as he had reached the channel Ermal told him to switch to.

 

“Ermal, what.. what _is_ this?”

“I’ve got absolutely no idea but there’s flying sharks! And, ahhh, look, now they’re fighting against them! With a chainsaw!”

Ermal was giggling by now and Fabrizio couldn’t help but join in his laugh – the movie was ridiculous and Fabri had no clue what exactly was going on there (it being in English didn’t really help but he doubted that he’d have been able to understand much more of the storyline if it had been in Italian. Especially as they were suddenly fighting against sharks _on the moon_.)

The two of them kept making fun of the movie while admittedly being entertained as well, and then, after Fabrizio had just been wondering where the hell David Hasselhoff might have come from so suddenly, he noticed that it had been a few minutes since Ermal’s last comment. Fabri picked up his phone that he had laid down at the bed while being on speaker, and he found out the reason for Ermal’s silence: he couldn’t see too much of his boyfriend, mostly there were curls and the unexciting minty green of the hotel room, but Fabrizio was able to make out the hint of one of Ermal’s eyes. And that eye was closed. He smiled before reducing the volume at his TV – he still was able to hear some of the shark fighting through the phone from Ermal’s side, but his boyfriend didn’t seem to mind the noise. Fabrizio then went to his bed, phone still in his hand, and placed it on the pillow next to his head; listened to the sounds of Ermal’s breathing while falling asleep…

 

“Good morning, time to wake up!”

Fabrizio blinked while slowly waking up and looked around a little confused – he couldn’t place the voice that had spoken right now, especially as it somehow didn’t seem to belong into his bedroom.

“What?”, Fabrizio yawned, still unsure where that voice had come from, what was going on.

“Bizio?”, this had been another voice now, and this one, oh, Fabrizio couldn’t imagine himself ever not recognizing that voice.

Finally, Fabrizio’s hands found his phone under a pillow, an ad telling him that Ermal’s and his video call had been going the whole night, another one informing him about his low battery charge, and the only important thing being his boyfriend smiling at him. Ermal’s curls had been ruffled by sleep and Fabri wished he could place his hands in there to make them a little messier. 

“Hey darling, how have you been sleeping?”

“Quite good, thank you _amore_ ”, Ermal told, emphasis on the endearment, and Fabrizio heard something like a sigh in the background.

“If I’d known _this_ was expecting me I wouldn’t have come to wake you up”, and then Ermal chuckled at these words while Marco appeared next to him in Fabri’s phone display. And suddenly it made sense to Fabrizio, the voice that had him so confused earlier.

“Morning, Fabrizio”, Marco greeted, and it only was a little after 7am, but the man already sounded done with the day.

They exchanged a few words before Ermal joined the conversation again, and it was not like they were doing it on purpose, like Marco insisted they did, but they couldn’t quite hide just how in love they were when talking, looking at each other. When Fabrizio wished Ermal all the best luck for the concert in the evening, his boyfriend blew him a little kiss, and at that, Marco got up in half hearted annoyance that couldn’t quite hide his smile.

“Aand that’s my cue to leave now, bye Fabrizio! And Ermal, don’t think breakfast will wait for you, you lovesick idiot!”

Ermal seemed to be throwing a pillow in Marco’s direction before his friend left the room with a chuckle, and then he looked back at Fabrizio. And suddenly, there was something in his gaze that nearly seemed nervous.

 

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, of course, it’s just- Bizio, have you got another minute?”

“Sure, of course”, and after Fabrizio had said that, Ermal left the screen for a moment.

When he got back, his guitar in one hand, Ermal changed the phone’s position so it was showing a larger part of the room, and for a moment, Fabrizio didn’t focus on his boyfriend, as he had noticed something. The oh so familiar plush crocodile that was sitting between the pillows, and if Fabrizio hadn’t already been helplessly in love with Ermal Meta, he would have fallen now.

“Alright, do you remember the melody that I played to you in your garden last week?”

“Yes, I do, of course I do, it really was lovely!”

Ermal smiled, some of the nervousness gone, but not all of it.

“Well, to be honest, it wasn’t just a melody, it’s a whole song. I wrote it in a hotel room actually, and I was not sure if I’d ever share it, least of all… Let’s just say that a lot has happened, and I’d really like you to hear the song?”

“I’d love to hear it.”

After a deep breath, Ermal started to play, play the melody that Fabrizio already had loved when first hearing it, and this time, his voice joined in too. And it was so gentle, fitting the atmosphere of a song about the calmness that one experienced when feeling the summer sun at their skin, the wind running through their hair, the taste of salt in the air. The calmness, and at the same time the excitement, the excitement that came like the waves to the shore. And how all of this felt a little like falling in love. 

Ermal had closed his eyes while playing the song, but then there came a line about an embrace that felt a little like the fruitcake from one of the good childhood days, a little like a thunderstorm and a lot like the sun illuminating the waves in the most beautiful ways. And Ermal looked up at that, at Fabrizio, who smiled at him, and he knew that he understood. Understood that Ermal had written this song about him, for him, and that it probably wouldn’t be the last…


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my very fave chapters of this story, so I hope you'll enjoy it too! :D

Fabrizio was sitting in his car, driving through the countryside. His fingers drumming a rhythm on the steering wheel, while his thoughts already were occupied with the evening to come. He had been looking forward to this, quite a lot, but now that the day actually was there, he suddenly was unsure if this was a good idea. But surely it had to be? Yes, yes it was, he would have a wonderful evening, and no one would recognize him. Of that, he had tried to make sure before leaving his house earlier – he was wearing an oversized hoodie with an extra large hood that could hide his whole face if it would be needed, he had slicked back his hair in a way that made him look less like himself and more like some weird twin, there were round glasses resting on his nose, he had shaved his face and also planned to keep his fingers in the hoodie’s pockets, so no one would notice any tattoos. And it would be dark, that would surely be an advantage. No one would pay any attention to him, he would just be another fan in the crowd, another soul being bewitched by the music.

He parked his car under a bright afternoon sun, got himself a cup of coffee and then waited. And it was too warm in his dark hoodie, but he couldn’t really take that off right now, not in the middle of an undercover mission. So he went to a shopping mall for a bit, as they had air conditioning, and later, when darkness started to fall, he bought himself a pizza. And then, Fabrizio went towards the square where the concert would be – damn, this was an extraordinarily beautiful place, he should try to come here on his next tour too. But that wasn’t a thought for this evening, as this wasn’t about him.

Fabrizio got in the queue for the entrance and noticed with a relieved sigh that no one spared a second glance at the man in the hoodie. Everyone around him was way too excited, excited for the things to come, and as Fabrizio knew that all of this was thanks to his boyfriend, _his Ermal_ , it caused his heart to swell with pride. He then found his place to stand, and sent a quick text to Ermal to wish him a good concert. This was a tradition, had been one even before they became a couple, and stopping today would have been suspicious. And that, he couldn’t have – there was nothing out of the ordinary here, at least it shouldn’t seem like that to Ermal.

 

It took around another hour after Ermal had sent a thank you text with a little heart to Fabri before he walked onto the stage, clad in a red and blue glittery jacket, his curls seemingly defying gravity when he started to jump a little, and the excitement of the people around Fabrizio nearly was deafening. Ermal’s first song of the evening was “Non abbiamo armi”, and Fabrizio was singing along happily with everyone else; getting lost in the rhythm, the music, the energy that seemed to flicker like electricity between the stage and the people in the crowd. Ermal then welcomed the fans, and Fabrizio heard a girl standing not too far away from him scream a “Ti amo!” towards the stage. And with a little smile, Fabri thought “Me too.”

More songs followed, songs that he of course each knew the words to, and Fabrizio's eyes were glued on Ermal, walking around the stage, his jacket sparkling in the lights. He could see him smiling, and he imagined the look in his eyes, this blissed out happiness that Ermal radiates while on stage, singing his songs with people who love them - Fabri couldn't actually _see_ Ermal's eyes from where he was standing; being close enough to the stage to do that would have been too risky, but he knew him well enough to know exactly how he was looking at that moment. And then, Ermal took the microphone close to his lips again, announcing the next song. He talked about how people might know this one, and then said "Vietato", receiving a deafening "Morire!" as an answer from the crowd. And there was another smile on Ermal's lips, a small one, telling of gratitude, of pride, and then he started singing.

 

Fabrizio had fallen in love with this song the first time he heard it, and now, even after having heard it so many times, it still went straight to his heart. The crowd was singing along but all that Fabri heard was Ermal's voice, this honesty, this bravery, this _strength_. He caught a look at the woman standing in front of him, blonde, around his age, with a tear running down her cheek, and he could relate to that. Oh so well. Once again, the memory of Sanremo 2017 hit him, all the emotions he had felt when he heard this song, this _need_ to get to know the person who had been capable of creating such a masterpiece.

It wasn't the first time that the thought that Ermal should have won already in 2017 came to Fabrizio’s mind, and while he was _so_ convinced that he would have deserved it, deserved everything for this brave, brave song, he also couldn't help but feel a little bit grateful for Ermal not having won back then. It was a selfish thought, Fabri was aware of that, but who knew what would have happened - who knew if their collaboration would have happened, who knew if _they_ would have happened. And Fabrizio wouldn't want to miss this for the world.

The song ended, and Fabrizio swallowed. He would have loved to take Ermal in his arms in this moment, tell him how incredibly proud of him he was, but that would have to wait. So Fabrizio focused on the following songs instead, sang along, watched Ermal and his band having a good time on stage. And then, at one point, one of the headlights was illuminating Ermal in a certain way, and Fabrizio noticed something. He knew that shirt that Ermal was wearing underneath his sparkly jacket. He knew it because that was _his_ shirt. Fabrizio smiled brightly at the discovery, unaware of how his fingers were subconsciously playing with the bracelet that Ermal had left him and that he hadn’t taken off since then.

 

Ermal then started to sing “Le Luci de Roma”, and of course Fabrizio had seen that radio interview, knew about how there were rumors connecting them and this song. And as interesting as it certainly was, and as much as he liked the song, he knew that they weren't true, at least not like that. Ermal hadn't written this song about them, for him, wasn't singing it for him, nothing the like. But he didn't mind the people thinking that, it was okay. And an even nicer thought was the one about how there actually _was_ a song for which all of this was true, one that Ermal had written for and about his boyfriend, about _them_ , about their love, a song that no one but the two of them knew so far.

Fabrizio was close to getting lost in the memory of how Ermal had played it for him during their video call, but then, he very effectively got brought back to the present. Because Ermal had laid down at the stage, in these sinfully tight leather pants, and Fabri died a little. And then, later, when he thought he would be safe, at least for a little while, Ermal decided to tie his hair into a bun, and the way he moved around the stage.. Fabrizio was aware of how beautiful his boyfriend was, always had been, but Ermal also was _sexy_ as hell, and right now it drove Fabri crazy. Singing “Rien ne va plus” didn’t make this better, not with how the song was in general, and especially not with _how_ Ermal was singing it. Once again, Fabrizio wished to be with Ermal as soon as possible, and this time, it was not only with the thought of holding him in his arms…

Ermal went on to “Ragazza Paradiso”, and Fabrizio chuckled when he noticed how Ermal was not singing a certain line himself, rather letting the crowd of fans sing the words than raising questions about suspicious a’s and o’s again. This was a clever solution, but then, Fabrizio wondered if it was just his imagination or if there actually were some people in the crowd singing ragazzo. And he wondered even more if there truly were people here who would _mind_ that. All those individuals at this extraordinarily beautiful place, under a starry sky on a warm summer night, united by his boyfriend’s music and their love for it – surely they couldn’t mind _that much_ whom Ermal might decide to hold hands with, to kiss, to _love_? And even if some might do, Fabrizio was convinced that they could do very well without those ignorant assholes. That one day, Ermal might sing ragazzo on stage, and it would be alright.

 

The first few notes for “Non mi avete fatto niente” were to be heard, and Fabrizio took a deep breath. It was the first time that he heard Ermal sing this song, _their_ song, without being there with him on stage, and somehow it didn't feel right. Of course Ermal was singing it wonderfully, the audience helping him along, all this energy in the air, and yet.. Fabrizio wished to be there on stage with him, to experience that spark between them when their voices joined each other's during the song, this spark that first had him realize that Ermal wasn't just a friend, or a brother to him. That spark that still was there, so much stronger now, and that had some people questioning, could they really be just friends, nothing more? Could it be true that they loved each other, but not that much, when they were singing together _like that_ , behaving this way?

Ermal finished the song, standing there all alone, and Fabrizio thought back to all the times they had ended it up there together, his arm around Ermal, Ermal's hands on his body, his curls at Fabri's shoulder. Them steadying each other after baring all their emotions to the people like this, them letting each other know that they're fighting in this _together_. Two survivors, as Fabrizio had said so often, that they were - two souls who had found each other and discovered a connection, one so precious and rare that it had Fabri feel so many things; some emotions he had already experienced in earlier relationships, and so many new ones, and this peace that Fabrizio felt everytime he fell asleep with Ermal in his arms; it was hard to describe how very calm, and _at home_ this made his heart feel.

 

Fabrizio was dancing with the rhythm of the music when Ermal played “Io mi innamoro ancora”, got goosebumps when it was just the people in the crowd singing an acoustic version of “Piccola anima” and once again realized why “A parte te” was one of his very favourite Ermal songs. And then, Ermal and his band left the stage, accompanied by lots of cheering from the crowd, and Fabri knew that they’d probably come back for a few more songs, but still, where had the time gone? He was a little bit sad that this wonderful concert already was nearly over, but at the same time, that meant he wouldn’t have too long anymore to be with Ermal, to actually wrap his arms around him and not only love him from afar. Though now, he wondered how to best do this – so far, he had managed well to not be recognized by anyone, and he wanted to keep it that way. Him being spotted going backstage right after Ermal’s concert, that would provoke questions, rumors, assumptions, and Fabrizio was sure about how very unhappy Ermal would be with those. So he had to think of something else, had to leave the place with everyone else after the end of the concert and get away from all the phones with cameras and the people who might look at their surroundings with a little more attention once the actual concert was over. Meeting Ermal at his hotel would maybe be a good idea, or should he just ask him to some place in the city? Yeah, that sounded like a plan, and so Fabri quickly texted Ermal to please go towards that little pizza place, the one he had been to earlier, after the concert; it should be closed by now so they hopefully wouldn’t run into too many people. 

Ermal came back to the stage after a few minutes in a loose white shirt and alone, just him and his guitar. He got to the middle of the stage, started playing a few notes, and there was something so _fragile_ , and yet so strong about the way that Ermal looked in that moment, it tugged at Fabrizio's heart. And he hadn't thought much about which other songs Ermal might play for the ending of his concert, he loved them all so he just wanted to let himself be surprised, and surprised he got.

Finally, after playing a little melody just for itself, the tune that Ermal was playing changed into the introduction of a song. And Fabrizio recognized it immediately, of course he did, and he buried his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. Fingernails biting into the soft flesh at the inside of his hands to stop them from shaking. He noticed the tear escaping his eye, or maybe it were a few, and once Ermal finished singing “Lettera a mio padre” on stage, Fabrizio took a deep breath to steady himself, which may not have worked too well.

 

The concert ended with “Invecchio”, and the way how Ermal was standing there, in his white shirt with just a few little spotlights above him, it made him look like an angel. And then, it was over. Fabrizio stayed at his spot for a few more minutes. Watched the blonde woman he had seen earlier leave arm in arm with a girl in a flower dress, saw the piazza getting emptier, and smiled every time he saw someone walk away into the night with happiness written in their face.

Once Fabrizio had made it back to the pizza restaurant, there weren’t many people around – an elderly lady seemingly just said goodbye to some friends, but Fabri couldn’t understand a word as whatever she spoke was certainly no Italian, and once they had left, he stood there alone. When he had a look at his phone, he saw a text from Ermal, asking _why_ he should go where Fabri had asked him to, what was up there, but he got no answer. And Fabrizio wondered what Ermal might suspect was going on here – would he expect to see his boyfriend himself? Or that Fabri had send him some flowers maybe? He would have to make sure to ask him about that later, but before he could come up with more ideas, Fabrizio saw Ermal himself walking around the corner, wearing a very unsparkly jacket over his white shirt now. And once he spotted Fabrizio, leaning against a wall in an outfit that was weird even for his standards, he stopped in his tracks. Stared at his lover with wide eyes, before a brilliant smile broke out on his face. 

"Bizio! What, how, when-", he asked, confusion in his voice as well as joy, and Ermal trailed off as soon as he wrapped his arms around Fabrizio's body, burying his face in his boyfriend’s shoulder.

And Fabri just held him close, close to his heart, inhaled Ermal’s familiar smell, felt his soft curls touching his skin, felt _at home_. Once they loosened their embrace, Ermal still stayed close, his arms around Fabri’s neck as if they wanted to start to dance every second, and he tried a second time to get some answers.

"When have you gotten here, and why do you look like this?"

"In the afternoon. And well, I tried to make sure that no one would recognize me."

"But - the concert?", and the way that Ermal asked it indicated that he already had a suspicion here. 

Fabrizio just nodded.

"You were there?", and Fabri nodded again, the wonder in Ermal's voice, the soft way in which he asked this melting his heart.

"Yes, of course I was."

"But - why?"

"Because I love your music, caro", Fabri explained, and Ermal beamed at that. And then, Fabrizio took a deep breath, and decided that _now_ was the moment. 

 

"And most importantly, because I love _you_."

It took a second or three for Ermal to process those words, and once he had, he was nearly throwing himself at Fabrizio, crashing their lips together and kissing him against the stone wall behind him. Fabri buried one of his hands in Ermal’s curls, and they kissed as if their lives depended on this. And maybe they did.

Once they had to break their kiss to catch some air, Ermal leaned his forehead against Fabrizio’s, and then whispered, his eyes closed:

“I love you too. Oh my, Fabrizio, I love you _so fucking much_.”

And they stood there, smiling, kissing, laughing – being together, and most importantly, being hopelessly in love with each other. Being happy.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this almost is over :o
> 
> But I'm really proud of this story, and I'm glad you're here to read it my friend :*

Months had passed since that very first _I love you_ that Ermal and Fabri had shared, in a side alley somewhere in Northern Italy, and since then, there hadn’t been a single day in which they hadn’t said those magical words; be it in person, whispered into a hug, in a video call, seeing each other and wishing for nothing as much as to be able to touch, or through a phone line, hundreds of kilometers between them but hearts still beating like one. With the time passing, some things had changed, like the glittery jackets that found a new home in Fabrizio’s closet, and some had stayed the same, like the way in which the two looked at each other, always as if the other was their whole world.

And it wasn’t always easy to find time to be with each other, especially as it never seemed to be _enough_ time; Ermal had a tour to play and Fabrizio an album to record, and Fabri hated it every time he had to let Ermal go again. But having him come back to him, that made it all worth it, every time, and they were treasuring every hour spent in each other’s company. Today, it was one of those days, Ermal had a few days off so of course he was visiting Fabrizio, and they had planned to drive to a carnival together with the children.

During the car ride, Anita already told how many times she wanted to ride the ferris wheel while Libero mentioned a roller coaster one of his friends had mentioned, and once they had reached their destination, they parked and walked towards the queue at the entrance. There was a big sign visible, telling that an adult ticket would cost 10€ while one for kids was 5€, and Fabrizio already had his 30€ ready when they reached the lady selling the tickets.

“Two adults and two kids please”, Fabrizio said, and just wanted to hand over his money when she smiled at him.

“I’ll make that a family ticket, alright? That’s just 21€.”

“Yes, of course, thank you”, Fabri agreed, paid her, collected the ticket and then went inside behind his kids; careful to watch Anita who already had spotted at least seven different attractions she wanted to try. 

Fabrizio made sure to tell Anita to be careful before she went to stand in line at the first carousel, and then he turned towards Ermal, to ask him if he’d like to grab some food at that sandwich bar just over there. But the thought of food quickly was forgotten as soon as Fabrizio saw Ermal’s face, for his boyfriend looked really shaken, and there was a tear glistening in his eye.

“Hey, amore, are you alright?”, Fabrizio was quick to ask, and only got more worried when a tear escaped Ermal’s eye and made its way down his slightly stubbled cheek.

“Ermal, please tell me what’s going on”, Fabri then insisted, trying his best to not let it show just how anxious he was here.

And to Fabri’s immense surprise, a smile slowly formed on Ermal’s lips, and he whispered, looking away nearly a little shy:

“She said _family._ ”

And Fabrizio was lost for words. He just stared at his love until Libero, who had watched the whole scene, decided to do something about this.

“Yes Ermal, _family_ , of course you’re family! Anita loves you, I do, Papa does so even more. You belong with us, you know? Now, can we please get some food?”

Fabrizio laughed softly at that and ruffled Libero’s hair before tightly grabbing Ermal’s hand while they started walking towards getting some snacks. And all during their day, filled with ferris wheels, carousels, rollercoasters and a lot of laughter, Fabrizio thought about this. About how very true it was, had been for such a long time already. That Ermal was family. That he belonged to them, to _him_. That they belonged together. And how very right it was to do the thing he planned for later.

 

Some time later, Ermal opened his backpack and got out his last birthday present from Andrea: a polaroid camera. He hadn’t had that much time to try it out yet, except for some backstage selfies with the band that turned out rather blurry and still made it to his fridge – and his favourite pic, that might have ended up at Fabrizio’s fridge, because Ermal might have spent more of his free time at his boyfriend’s house than at his own place in the last few months. Anyways, the camera still needed to be tried out in bright daylight, and Ermal immediately knew that doing that today had been a good idea when he watched both Libero’s and Anita’s eyes turning wide, when he had snapped a picture of them arm in arm and it then started to come out of the camera.

“But Ermal, I can’t see anything”, Anita said once the picture had completely emerged, and she stared at the blank white space.

“It just needs a little time, give it a moment piccola – see, I’ll put it in my pocket, and then we can look at it in a few minutes.”

Anita seemed to think about that, and then asked: “Like a cake?”

“Yeah, pretty much”, Ermal answered with a smile, “like a cake that needs to bake in the oven.”

She nodded, and then asked Ermal around every thirty seconds if the picture was already finished. Ermal showed her the result with a smile, and she stared at it in utter fascination. Libero was smiling too, looking over his sister’s shoulder, and then, later, he was plucking on Ermal’s sleeve to get his attention. When the man stopped in his walking and looked down at Libero, the boy asked if maybe he could have that picture with Anita, to put it on his wall. Of course Ermal said yes, and he felt like his face wouldn’t stop smiling anytime soon. Especially not when Libero continued to say such nice things.

“And next we have to take a picture all together, can we? Please, one with you and Papa and Ani and me?”, Libero asked, while Anita raised her thumb in agreement, and Ermal couldn’t help but crouch down to his knees to be able to hug both of them tightly. 

The kids happily went with the hug, Ani always being delighted to be able to wrap her arms around Ermal and maybe play with his curls a little, and Libero remembering his tears earlier, and being oh so glad that Ermal was smiling again. And all the while, Fabrizio was standing next to them, next to his _family_ , watching those three people he loved with all his heart hugging each other, and he felt like the luckiest man alive.

 

Ermal took the picture with the four of them and then some more of the children, of Fabri smiling, Fabri running a hand through his hair, Fabri buying ice cream, just his beautiful boyfriend in general. Later, the kids tried out a few more roller coasters while Ermal and Fabrizio watched them, and when they had just walked towards another queue, Fabri pointed at the camera hanging down from Ermal’s shoulder.

“Can we take another picture with that?”

“Yes, of course, what kind of pic do you want amore?”

“A selfie, just the two of us.”

Ermal smiled at that, remembering some of the many selfies they had taken before – some that had purely been picturing two friends, or so he had thought, not having been sure of his own heart yet; those that were showing two brothers who loved each other, but not that much, never that much, except that if they would have allowed themselves a glint of honesty, they would have known that they did, that their hearts already were lost to each other beyond any point of return; and then there were those selfies they had taken as lovers – where finally, there was no need to ask oneself questions about what may or may not be there in the other one’s eyes, the fear about how heartbreaking the answers to these questions might be always lurking close by. No, in their recent selfies, there was no hiding just how very happy they were in their relationship, with each other, no questioning it, and while Ermal loved all of the pictures in which he appeared together with Fabrizio, those were certainly the ones he liked most. 

His personal fave probably would be one where Fabri’s head was resting at his chest on the sofa, eyes closed after other activities had become way more interesting than the movie they had been watching, activities that were rather tiring, and when his boyfriend had fallen asleep laying on top of him, Ermal couldn’t resist. Couldn’t resist to take a pic, himself burying his face in his boyfriend’s messy hair while Fabrizio looked oh so peaceful.

And when Ermal now snapped their newest selfie with the polaroid camera, raising it a little and hoping they’d actually be visible in it, Fabri standing behind him with his head on Ermal’s shoulder, he had no suspicion yet that this would become one of his very favourite pictures too. But Fabrizio had at least an idea about that, and he was oh so nervous when his smile wasn’t the only thing blinking into the camera.

 

The selfie made its way out of the camera with the typical rattling noise, Ermal put it in his pocket, and shortly after, him and Fabri were joined by the kids again, Libero holding Anita’s hand to not lose her in the crowd of people. They got a little more candy for everyone and then started walking towards the exit, it was quite late already after all, and it had been an exciting day. On the way towards the car, Ermal fished the now finished selfie with his Bizio out of his pocket and looked at it – it had come out quite nicely, most of his curls in the picture, Fabrizio’s birdnest hair, their smiles, a little of the park in the background. Ermal already planned to get a nice frame for that, or maybe ask Anita if she’d make him one; he was sure she’d say yes if he’d ask nicely. But then, Ermal noticed something. And all of his thoughts focused on the picture again.

In Fabri’s hand there was.. something. Ermal was not sure _what_ it was, and Fabrizio had been standing behind him when the picture was taken, so he hadn’t been able to see it, but now, frozen together with their smiles in this little picture, he did. Fabrizio had something in his hand, and he was holding it up, so it was visible in the picture.

“Fabri, what-?”, Ermal left the question hanging in the air, and therewhile turned around towards Fabrizio.

Who looked at him with wide eyes, a hesitant smile, and slowly extended his hand.  
His hand that contained a little piece of metal.  
A key.

“Move in with me?”, Fabrizio said, not quite able to ban all of the nervousness from his voice.

And Ermal stared at him, at the key, his eyes taking turns in looking at his boyfriend and that little object, the one that offered oh so many possibilities.

“Please say yes?”, a high voice from the height of Ermal’s hip suddenly chimed in.

“Shh, Ani be quiet, that’s an important question, and Ermal has to think about it, Papa told us not to pressure him please.”

“But he _has_ to agree, we all-“

The kids continued arguing while Ermal and Fabrizio just looked into each other’s eyes, the key still resting in Fabri’s hand, somewhere between them.

“Please say something?”, Fabrizio pleaded, and even if a splinter from the devil’s cursed mirror in Andersen’s snowqueen would have been resting inside his chest, that look in Bizio’s dark eyes would have melted Ermal’s heart.

“Walking into your house already feels like coming _home_ each time. And there’s no place I’d rather call home, no one I’d rather share it with than you and your kids, no one I’d rather come home to than _you_. So yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”

 

Fabrizio hugged Ermal tightly, and as soon as they were safely inside the car, protected from prying eyes, they shared the sweetest and most gentle of kisses, nothing but pure love in it. And finally, Fabri was able to lay the key into Ermal’s hand, and they both knew that it was so much more than a simple piece of metal that had been shaped to open doors. No, this was an invitation, it was an _I love you,_ an _I never want you to leave again_ , it was a thousand and one possibilities. It was a _future_ , together. 

And when they made it to the house in the evening, Ermal’s hands might have shook just the tiniest bit when he put the key into the keyhole. And then he opened the door. For his family.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What better thing to begin a new year of life with than by finishing a project one loves...

Seasons passed into each other, snow fell on the mountains to melt again, a new year introduced itself, and all the while, Ermal and Fabrizio felt themselves falling deeper in love with each other. Though, _falling_ , it didn’t feel like that, or maybe it just was a fall that you never wanted to end, cause you couldn’t distinguish the falling from flying in the glory of the moment. Or maybe they weren’t falling anymore, had already landed together in a new life, one that put them _together_ , with both Ermal and Fabrizio knowing that this was just the place where they were supposed to be. In each other’s arms, at each other’s side, in each other’s heart.

Ermal learned how sometimes, a routine could be the most magnificent thing imaginable - when he got used to waking up in Fabrizio’s bed rather than looking forward to rare occasions where he might be allowed to do exactly that, when he truly started to think of it as _their_ bed, when he caught himself connecting the word “home” with Rome more and more often. He played concerts but he always knew whom he could come back to, who would wait for him, with kisses and drawings and a new book to discuss about. This had become their thing, Ermal’s and Libero’s: reading together. They would pick out a book, either one that one of them already knew and loved, or one that was a new adventure for the both of them, and then they’d both read it, in hotel rooms and at school camps, during endless train journeys and in homework breaks, not together in presence but in minds. And as soon as everyone was back home, Fabrizio would sometimes walk into the living room, to see Ermal and Libero sitting there at the sofa, talking about magic and far galaxies, and both him and Anita loved to be told some of those stories the others had witnessed. They shared not only those stories, and a house, no, they shared a life, and, most importantly, they shared a family. Were a family.

 

Fabrizio wrote a new album, put ideas into words and melodies; some feelings he’d had for a long time, longer than he probably even was aware of, and some very new ones. He sang about friendship, about bravery, about things that made him angry and others that caused his heart to feel at peace, and most of all, he sang about love. And he was proud of his new songs, excited about them, but also, a little nervous when he one day, when it was just the two of them, called for Ermal, who had been doing something in the kitchen, and asked him to please come to his studio. 

What a funny thing it was, that last summer, which felt like something between a distant memory, a dream from another life and just yesterday, both of them already had known that it would be Ermal who’d be the first one to listen to Fabrizio’s new album, that _of course_ it would be him. While at the same time, there had been so so many things they hadn’t known back then. For example that this listening would take place in _their_ house, and that when Ermal had finished hearing the whole album, when he took off the headphones and turned to face Fabrizio, who had been sitting at the sofa, watching his boyfriend, the emotions on his face that the music caused, trying not to be nervous and failing at that, that in that moment, their hug would not only last so much longer than the ones they had shared during a magical summer, but that it also would be followed by a kiss. That Ermal would say “I’m so proud of you”, and “I love it”, that might not have come as a surprise for his past self, but his added “And I love you” probably would have. As well as Fabrizio’s answered “I love you too.”

There had been 10 songs that Ermal listened to that day, and together, they added an 11th one. And so, Fabrizio’s new album was complete. Songs got produced, CDs made, a first single introduced, and the fans loved it. As well as they loved the titles of all the other songs that would be on the album, those already had been told, and there was some room for speculation. Especially when it came to the final track, _Questo sguardo nei tuoi occhi_ , That Look in Your Eyes. Which eyes that might be about, fans as well as journalists asked, and whenever Fabrizio was faced with that question in an interview, he would just smile, and say “Someone special’s”. The gossip magazines made a lot out of that, wrote about another beautiful lady every week that Fabrizio might be seeing, but of course they were wrong, so very wrong. And those few gossip journalists who were right about the song, they didn’t believe their own headlines, just wanted to sell more newspapers by writing about a love between two stars that surely wasn’t there. It couldn’t be, could it?

 

Fabrizio got invited to a live talk show to introduce his new album, and when the day finally arrived, a bright summer sun setting above the thousands of houses that formed his home city that he loved so much, he couldn’t have denied that he was a little nervous. He looked out of the little window that the studio’s backstage area had, let his gaze swarm over the magnificent panorama once more, and then, he took a deep breath. Put on his leather jacket, waited for his cue, and then walked into the studio. He immediately picked up a guitar and sang the first of his new songs, getting lost in the rather rocky beat and the joy it caused to see that most people in the audience already could sing along, even though it hadn’t been long since the song had been released. And there were some people whose singing along made Fabrizio especially happy, a little group sitting (or right now, rather standing, dancing a little along to the beat even) in the 5th row – a man with curls and two children, all their faces beaming with pride. And love.

After the song was finished, Fabrizio sat down to chat with the host, answered some questions about the past months, this album, how it combined old influences with new ones, the making, how proud Fabri was of all the songs. And he mentioned how much his _test audience_ loved it, with a little private smile flashing over his lips. The host just raised one of her elegantly painted eyebrows, but she didn’t ask, and soon, it was time to play the next song. This one was a little calmer, and Fabrizio had written it for his children, as well as he was singing it for them now. With his guitar in his hands, gently playing it, his voice conveying all the love he felt for his little darlings. There were people in the studio showing their amazement by making aww-sounds, clapping, saying things like “this is soo terribly cute” to each other, but Fabrizio noticed none of this. His whole attention was focused on Anita, who was singing along with joy lighting up her whole face, and on Libero, who met his eyes, smiled at him, and for once, seemed to feel a little love for music too.

More applause followed after the song was finished, and Fabrizio could see how Libero and Anita hugged each other there in the audience, the sight melting his heart. Next, the hosting lady asked some questions about his planned tour in autumn, about the decision to play concerts not only in Italy, about his clothes even. And finally, she asked the thing that Fabrizio had been waiting for the whole evening.

“You’re going to play another song for us, aren’t you?”

“Yes, one that means very very much to me to be honest.”

Some cheering from the audience was to be heard.

“And it’s a world preview, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Yes, yes, it is.”

“How wonderful. So here we are, our guest is the wonderful Fabrizio Moro, and for the very first time, he’ll perform…”

 

“Questo sguardo nei tuoi occhi”, Fabrizio said, with a shy little smile, and the crowd went wild. Only to fall silent again very soon when Fabri started to lure the first few beautiful notes out of his guitar.

Fabrizio looked at his kids once more, at their smiles, and at the empty space next to them. The one where Ermal had been standing earlier.

And then, Fabrizio started to sing, nothing to be heard in the studio but his guitar and his voice: 

_There's many things they say about love,_  
_and I don't know which are true,_  
_but there's your fingers on my skin,_  
_your breath on my neck,_  
_and I wonder, I wonder what could be,_  
_and I wish, I wish you would see,_  
_and there's this look in your eyes,_  
_this look in your eyes.._.

People already were falling in love with the song, with the rare emotions that you could feel behind each word, and it came as a surprise to the audience as well as the host when Fabrizio stopped to sing. Could he have forgotten the lyrics for his own song? Was it nerves, or was he maybe getting too emotional? Confused glances were exchanged, and the host leaned forward in her chair.

And then, there suddenly was a second voice singing, from towards the backstage area:

 _I've met many people in my life,_  
_some good, some bad, but none quite like you,_  
_and I don't believe in soulmates,_  
_but if I did, I'd wonder if you're mine,_  
_and there are moments when I can't believe this to be true,_  
_fear it's just a dream to wake up from,_  
_but then there's this smile in your voice,_  
_this smile in your voice…_

And Ermal walked towards Fabrizio, out of the shadows lurking backstage and into the bright spotlight, microphone in hand and happiness in his eyes. While the eyes of the people in the audience grew wider and wider, and the host lady needed all of her experience from years of working for television to keep her face neutral, to not have it break out into a smile.

While the people around them still were trying to process the situation, Ermal only had eyes for Fabrizio, and then it was the older man’s turn to sing again:

 _Life hasn't always been easy but that's okay,_  
_because everything that happened_ ,  
_everything that was,_  
_it somehow led me to you,_  
_and there's a tear in your eye,_  
_a tremble in your voice-_

At this point, Ermal had arrived next to Fabrizio, who put down his guitar to rather take Ermal's hand, and it just was their voices now, complimenting each other’s so magnificently. Fabrizio caressed Ermal’s hand with his thumb, and Ermal continued the song:

 _And there's me in your arms,_  
_and there's me at home,_  
_and there's me just where I wanna be,_  
_and I wish, I wish you could see,_  
_and there's that look in your eyes,_  
_that look in your eyes.._

And finally, after years of friendship and months filled with questions, with confusion, with suffering, with a love that hurt one’s heart rather than healed it because it was lonely; after hugs that lasted too long and sentences that carried too much meaning, after looks that wanted to say so very much more than words ever could and touches that felt as if they weren’t meant to ever end; after a magical kiss and so many that followed, after weeks and weeks filled with nothing but pure love, Ermal and Fabrizio were there. In this TV studio, holding each other’s hands, and they continued this song. Their song. Both singing together now:

 _And there's a question in the air_  
_and my fear to ask,_  
_and there's people wondering_  
_while I'm a non-believer,_  
_but then there's this smile in your voice,_  
_this smile in your voice,_

_and there's a word I'm thinking of,_  
_a word I don't dare to say,_  
_not when I miss you, not when you're here,_  
_but then there's your arms guarding me,_  
_and there's that look in your eyes,_  
_that look in your eyes.._

Fabrizio raised their joined hands to place a quick kiss on Ermal’s, and then, they ended their song:

 _And there's that look in my eyes,_  
_and I know it's true._

They were both just standing there, getting lost in that look in each other's eyes, or so it seemed - actually, they rather were having a little conversation with their glances, Fabrizio raising an eyebrow to ask Ermal if this was okay, if _he_ was okay, if he still was on board with this. And Ermal smiled, brightly, carefree, and launched himself at Fabri to kiss him. Not a funny little peck on the lips, but an actual kiss. The kind that lovers share.

The audience was cheering so loudly, and Ermal’s first thought was that it's nice to know the people like their song, but then it hit him. That this was probably not only for their song, but rather for.. _them_. And he didn’t allow the fears, the worries, the what if’s more than half a thought, before he buried a hand in Fabri's hair, deepening their kiss. And therewhile, Ermal let it sink in that all those people hear gifted them with their enthusiasm because they seemed just.. happy, about how happy they were. And this meant more than he’d like to admit. 

When they finally parted, Fabrizio kept an arm around Ermal's middle, Ermal rested his head at Fabri's shoulder, and they walked like that over to the interviewing sofa, steadying and grounding each other, like they had done many times before on stage, but also whispering a wordless “I love you, I’ve got you, and we’ll be fine”. 

They sat as close to each other as possible, Fabrizio with an arm around Ermal’s shoulder now, his non-occupied hand holding Ermal’s, their fingers intertwined. The interviewing lady stared at them, and the first thing she finally said was “Wow”. Which might have summarized the whole day quite well, the emotions of a lot of people in that studio. 

She asked some questions, wonder still in her voice and respect always in her words, and Fabrizio allowed Ermal to answer most of them. Ermal, who seemed to burst from joy every time he said _relationship_ , or _my boyfriend_ , and Fabrizio thought his heart must beat so wild it might jump out of his chest. 

"So you two-", the interviewer finally said, as if she was looking for a conclusion to this evening that had turned out so much more surprising than expected, and then, she trailed of, turning it into a question. 

"We love each other", Ermal explained with a smile and a squeeze of Fabrizio's hand, while some awwwwws from the audience were to be heard. 

"But not that much?", Fabri joked, and Ermal looked towards him. And while his voice and his smile were joking, his eyes weren't. They had talked about it once, how it had made Fabrizio feel, to hear Ermal say these things. How it had made him feel _before_ , when there had been nothing but hoping, wishing, dreaming. And how it had made him feel _after_ , when he wanted nothing more than scream their happiness into the world. How it had hurt him. And Ermal had promised himself something. Never again. 

"Exactly that much", Ermal said, putting as much sincerity, as much _love_ into his words as he could. And finally, Fabrizio's eyes smiled along with his lips. 

And Ermal couldn’t have imagined a better thing than the perspective of seeing that smile for all of his days to come. 

“I love you", Ermal's fingers holding Fabrizio's a little tighter seemed to say. 

“I love you too", Fabri's smile answered. 

And the tears in both of their eyes whispered "Forever." 

_~ Ende ~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All that's left for me to say here is Thank You. Yes, _you_. For reading, for kudo-ing, for commenting. Your nice words were what kept me going here, and made this story possible. So thanks for that, and hugs to you, my dear reader ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you left a nice comment it would make me incredibly happy! ❤
> 
> Work title is from the song "Tougher than the rest" by Bruce Springsteen.


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